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PREFACE AND FOREWORD
“Honoring the Past and Looking into the Future: Guidelines for Identification
and Preservation in Saugerties, NY" seeks to raise public awareness of historic
preservation through an approach that encourages the understanding of styles and
details from four major landmarks of Saugerties: the Kiersted House, the
Saugerties Lighthouse, the Main-Partition Streets Historic District and Opus 40.
This technique places each of these landmarks in the context of its historic
period, relates this period to styles and details of the houses built during that
time, identifies characteristics of this environment through guidelines, and then
ties them together under the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for
Rehabilitation.
At the same time, this organization suggests an overall approach to historic
preservation in the larger community and at the same time presents guidelines
specific enough for Certificate of Appropriateness design review purposes. In
addition, details of the history of Saugerties will be interspersed throughout
thereby creating a bicentennial keepsake for every citizen of Saugerties and the
general public. A final section of this publication covers the law and the responsibilities
and operations of the Historic Preservation Commission of the Town and the
Historic District Review Board of the Village, for which this is a joint project.
Honoring the Past and Looking into the Future
Every community is unique. Each has its own flavor; its identity.
Saugerties' identity is felt where its past and present come alive in the
houses that dot its scenic landscape, in the welcoming look of businesses, in the
careful maintenance of public spaces and in the loving attention paid to
traditions and landmarks. This conveys a palpable sense of pride; a positive
Identity.
Saugerties' identity is steeped in history. Threads of the high points of
nearly every important period in American history can be found in Saugerties.
The goal of this booklet is to identify these high points of history by illustrating
how to preserve the Saugerties landmarks that relate to them. Our premise is
that through identification, we will further civic pride in Saugerties.
This booklet is a tribute to the former and current homeowners who have
preserved the architectural styles and construction details of past generations. It
is not the Town or the Village but individual property owners who have kept
our historic identity safe for future generations. It is their individual efforts that
you will see on these pages. It is these individuals we thank for lighting our
way to the more personal encounter we all share as "our Saugerties identity.”
Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future:
Guidelines forIdentification
and Preservationin Saugerties, New York
Page number 1Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Greg L. Helsmoortel, Town Supervisor
Kelly MyersJimmy Bruno, Town Board Liaison
Bill SchirmerCommissioners:
Myles Putman (until
, Town Historian (ex officio)
2010/11; 2014
, Town Supervisor 2012/13
2010-2013
, Town Board Liaison 2014
Josh Randall, Chair 2010-2014 (deceased but fondly remembered)
Michael Sullivan Smith, vice-Chair 2010-2013
Stephen Shafer, vice-Chair 2014
Barry Benepe, Chair 2014
Susan Puretz 2012)
Stefan Yarabek (from 2014)
Audrey Klinkenberg
Bill Murphy, Mayor
Patrick Landewe, Village Board Liaison
Review Board:Richard Frisbie
Dave Minch
, Chair
Michael Fanelli
Michael Sullivan Smith (until 2013)
Jonathan Shapiro (after 2013)
Brian Wilson
Written and designed for the Town of Saugerties Historic Preservation Commission and Village of Saugerties Historic Districts Review Board by Michael Sullivan Smith; edited by Susan Puretz;reviewed by the Certified Local Government program of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation; published under two grants from the NYS OPRHP Certified Local Government program.Copyright 2011Revised 2014
Page number 2Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S
Photos of p from theTown of Saugerties Historical Resource Survey, 2005
roperties taken
PREFACE and FOREWORD - 1
INTRODUCTION - 3
The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation (Secretary's Standards) - 4; The
Kiersted House Example - 5; General Guidelines for references accepted for Town and Village
landmark declarations of historical significance - 7; Recognized Research Documents - 7
THE HISTORY WE HAVE PRESERVED - 7-56
Early Documentary History - 7; Our earliest structures - 8; The Kiersted House - a Colonial
Model - 10; Colonial Period Stone Houses - 11; Early Entrepreneurship in Saugerties - 14;
Preservable assets from the Town's first decades - 16; Foundation of Saugerties' 19th century
growth period - 20; Preservation of Saugerties' 19th century growth period - 27; Preservation of
Saugerties Mercantile Period - 33; The National Register Listing - 37; Preserving our grand
estate and village homes - 40; The Historic Landscape of Saugerties - 48
GUIDELINES FOR THE KIERSTED HOUSE MODEL - 10-19
Guidelines for Walls - 10; Guidelines for Foundations - 12; Guidelines for Chimneys - 12;
Guidelines for Roof Form - 12; Guidelines for Roofing - 13; Guidelines for Dormers - 13;
Guidelines for Gutters and Downspouts - 13; Guidelines for Trim & Ornamentation - 14;
Guidelines for Windows and Doorways - 14; Guidelines for Entranceways and Porches - 16;
Guidelines for Fire Exits and Handicapped Access - 16; Guidelines for Decks and Terraces - 17;
Guidelines for Fences and Walls - 17; Guidelines for Outbuildings - 18; Guidelines for Walks
Roads and Parking Areas - 18; Guidelines for Signs - 19; Guidelines for Light Fixtures - 19
GUIDELINES FOR THE SAUGERTIES LIGHTHOUSE MODEL - 20-32
Guidelines for Walls - 20; Guidelines for Foundations - 23; Guidelines for Chimneys - 23;
Guidelines for Roof Form - 24; Guidelines for Roofing - 24; Guidelines for Dormers - 24;
Guidelines for Gutters and Downspouts - 25; Guidelines for Trim & Ornamentation - 25;
Guidelines for Windows and Doorways - 26; Guidelines for Entranceways and Porches - 27;
Guidelines for Fire Exits and Handicapped Access - 29; Guidelines for Decks and Terraces - 29;
Guidelines for Fences and Walls - 30; Guidelines for Outbuildings - 31; Guidelines for Walks
Roads and Parking Areas - 31; Guidelines for Signs - 32; Guidelines for Light Fixtures - 32
GUIDELINES FOR THE MAIN/PARTITION MODEL - 33-47
Guidelines for Walls - 33; Guidelines for Trim & Ornamentation - 34; Guidelines for
Foundations - 36; Guidelines for Chimneys - 36; Guidelines for Roof and Roof Element Form -
37; Guidelines for Roofing - 37; Guidelines for Dormers - 38; Guidelines for Gutters and
Downspouts - 38; Guidelines for Windows and Doorways - 39; Guidelines for Entranceways
and Porches - 40; Guidelines for Fire Exits and Handicapped Access - 29; Guidelines for Decks
and Terraces - 41; Guidelines for Fences and Landscape Walls - 42; Guidelines for Outbuildings
- 42; Guidelines for Streetscapes - 43; Guidelines for Walks Roads and Parking Areas - 31;
Guidelines for Signs - 44; Guidelines for Light Fixtures - 47
GUIDELINES FOR THE OPUS 40 MODEL - 48-56
Guidelines for recognizing the historic significance of land - 49; Guidelines for Waterfronts - 49;
Guidelines for Settings - 50; Guidelines for Burial Grounds - 51; Guidelines for Roads, Streets
and Trails - 52; Guidelines for Sidewalks. Curbs and Tree Lawns - 53; Guidelines for Historic
Stone Structures - 54; Guidelines for Quarry Sculptures - 55; Glossary of local landscape terms
- 56
APPENDIX - 57-69
Criteria for historic significance in Saugerties - 57; Preservation Section of the Village of
Saugerties Zoning Code - 57; Saugerties Town Preservation Ordinance - 63; Frequently Asked
Questions for explaining the basics of preservation law - 64
Leading the way
Look at the photos and drawings at the right; each one
has a history which was instrumental in “leading the way”.
The Kiersted House was included in The Daughters of
the American Revolution's visionary documentation of all
the early stone houses in Saugerties for the American
Bicentennial in 1976. Charles Steele, Mayor of the Village,
lived in and restored the Kiersted House setting the model
for future restoration projects. Dr. Frank Daniels, the next
owner, followed that lead which ended up with the Kiersted
House qualifying for the National Register in 1998 and, in
the same year, the home of the Saugerties Historical Society.
The Saugerties Lighthouse and its nature trail access are
the result of a steadfast community of volunteers who had a
vision of preserving a national landmark. Ruth Reynolds
Glunt placed the Lighthouse on the National Register in
1978 and the Lighthouse restoration was completed in the
early 1990's.
The Central Business District of the Village
has been, since 1982, a National Register
Historic District because of the vision and
persistence of one citizen's passion for
preservation and we thank Cliff Steen for that.
Opus 40, a National Register landmark, not
only includes the world famous land art
sculpture but also the Quarryman's Museum.
Assembled by Harvey Fite to preserve the total
environment of his work of art, it is a blend of
natural and folk history.
Each of these structures, in their own way,
led to regulations designed to protect and
preserve them, thereby protecting and
preserving Saugerties History. For example, the Village of
Saugerties established a Historic Review Board in 1986 and
the Town of Saugerties the Historic Preservation
Commission in 2004. Their strong local laws to protect their
historic assets have rewarded the village and town with
federal and state status as Certified Local Governments.
Yet, with all this community involvement, it is not groups
nor laws, commissions or boards, or even federal, state, or
local recognition that preserves the historic identity of
INTRODUCTION
Page number 3Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Saugerties. All these institutions can do is provide
example and guidance to those that have independently
made their own decisions to honor our past by
preserving their historic homes and buildings. We credit,
admire, and respect those individuals and groups for
their actions which have enhanced the whole
community.
Producing Guidelines
Between the Village and the Town there are hundreds
of historical structures. As early as 1978, the Village had
surveyed over 200 structures within its borders and 84 of
these received National Register of Historic Places
designation as the Main-Partition Streets Historic
Business District in 1982. The Town surveyed almost
180 structures within its geographic boundries and
published details on 155 of these in the Historical
Resources Survey of March, 2005. More recently, eight
individual historic property owners in the town and
village have had their properties placed on the National
Register of Historic Places by their own initiatives. With
this publication, the Town Historic Preservation
Commission and the Village Historic Review Board,
have now developed preservation and design guidelines
for the various periods and styles that had been
documented in the two surveys of the historical
buildings in Saugerties. These guidelines address the
way the site, shape and architectural/structural details are
best preserved to maintain the look of a period identified
with Saugerties' past.
In creating these guidelines, we incorporated the
recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior's
Standards for Rehabilitation commonly referred to as the
Secretary's Standards - SEE SIDEBAR, PAGE 4. With
the Secretary's Standards as the foundation, we have
added observations of "best practices" found in our own
community, and developed a manual that will service
Saugerties. In general our guidelines cover the materials,
paint color, and restoration techniques for the siding,
roof, masonry, windows, shutters, doors and porches of
properties appropriate to their periods. The walls, fences
The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for
Rehabilitation (Secretary's Standards)
1. A property shall be used for its historic purpose or
be placed in a new use that requires minimal change
to the defining characteristics of the building and its
site and environment.
2. The historic character of a property shall be
retained and preserved. The removal of historic
materials or alteration of features and spaces that
characterize a property shall be avoided.
3. Each property shall be recognized as a physical
record of its time, place, and use. Changes that create
a false sense of historical development, such as
adding conjectural features or architectural elements
from other buildings, shall not be undertaken.
4. Most properties change over time; those changes
that have acquired historic significance in their own
right shall be retained and preserved.
5. Distinctive features, finishes, and construction
techniques or examples of craftsmanship that
characterize a property shall be preserved.
6. Deteriorated historic features shall be repaired
rather than replaced. Where the severity of
deterioration requires replacement of a distinctive
feature, the new feature shall match the old in design,
color, texture, and other visual qualities and, where
possible, materials. Replacement of missing features
shall be substantiated by documentary, physical, or
pictorial evidence.
7. Chemical or physical treatments, such as
sandblasting, that cause damage to historic materials
shall not be used. The surface cleaning of structures,
if appropriate, shall be undertaken using the gentlest
means possible.
8. Significant archeological resources affected by a
project shall be protected and preserved. If such
resources must be disturbed, mitigation measures
shall be undertaken.
9. New additions, exterior alterations, or related new
construction shall not destroy historic materials that
characterize the property. The new work shall be
differentiated from the old and shall be compatible
with the massing, size, scale, and architectural
features to protect the historic integrity of the
property and its environment.
10. New additions and adjacent or related new
construction shall be undertaken in such a manner
that if removed in the future, the essential form and
integrity of the historic property and its environment
would be unimpaired.
Page number 4Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
and trees related to the landscaping of the site are also
included in these guidelines. Additionally, for the
commercial area of the Main-Partition Streets Historic
District, we have added guidelines for signs, awnings,
lighting and the possible appropriate reversal of
inappropriate details. While these guidelines are being
published as recommendations for non-designated
properties, they are mandatory for our designated landmarks.
Setting our own standard
The logic of the Secretary's Standards is easy to
understand. Applying procedures for making these standards
work is not. Every community is different and an old historic
community like Saugerties has a broad range of historic
influences, each with its own "feel", that present many
different choices. To make these choices easier, we have
adopted a strategy of using period landmark examples.
To have Saugerties-specific standards is especially
appealing in an historic community where the application of
these is evident in the historic character of homes and places
of business.
In these pages we attempt to put the preserved structures
that define our past in perspective. We show how a selected
group of four properties exemplify the Secretary's Standards
and how they have led the way to the creation of our
community standards. Thus, we have arbitrarily divided our
300 plus year community history into 4 periods: Colonial
(agricultural), Early Industrial, Mercantile, and a hybrid
which we label as "Historic Landscapes." These periods are
not discrete and sometimes stretch and sometimes overlap.
In these guidelines we have selected as examples of each
historic period, four properties that are National Register
designated and are accessible to the public. The periods and
examples are:
The Colonial Period mainly defined by our earliest stone
houses: The Kiersted House
The Early Industrial Period emblematic of the many mid-
19th century residences in the town and village: The
Saugerties Lighthouse
The Mercantile Period defined by the Village's late-19th
The Kiersted House Example
Numbers 1, 2, and 3 of the 10 Secretary's Standards
deal with preserving changes to a landmark. Using the
Kiersted House as an example, #1 suggests that since the
Kiersted House was an historic home, its best use would be
as a residence; however, it goes on to say that if its current
usage is removed from its "historic purpose" (e.g. to be
used as a gallery space, business, or a society meeting
place), then there should be no change to the "defining
characteristics of the building, site and environment" that
make it identifiable as a former residence.
The Secretary's Standard #2 reiterates the importance
of retaining an "historic character" by emphasizing that a
property must be preserved with the character defining
historic architectural materials; we find that the Kiersted
House meets that criterion. Standard #3 states "Each
property shall be recognized as a physical record of its
time, place and use". This standard insures that the
building remains a record of its specific history, and does
not allow “conjectural elements” or elements from other
houses, to be added. Because the Kiersted House meets that
standard, visitors can be certain what they experience
today is the same door and latch that Dr. Kiersted placed
his hand on and opened; and the same threshold that he
stepped over after walking, perhaps over the same stepping
stones and under even the same ancient black locust trees
that are the same distance from that old wagon road that is
today’s Main Street.
Meeting these three Secretary's Standards is a goal that
all owners of historic houses should aspire to and the
Kiersted House sets this standard for the whole community.
But even the Kiersted House is not a perfect "physical
record of its time" as there have been changes.
None of the stone houses of Saugerties have survived
without some updates or expansions. Each of their owners
over the past three centuries sought to make their homes
more comfortable and look more "contemporary". Nearly
every stone house has had at least one horizontal
expansion, or a second floor, a Federal era decorative fan
window, or a Victorian era porch added during its long life.
These historic changes follow the patterns of growth of the
community and tell a story as instructive and captivating as
the parts of a house that have never changed, exactly as
Standards#1, 2 and 3 recommend when they state they
“shall be recognized as a physical record of its time, place,
and use”.
For example, in Saugerties we can see the upgrading
or addition of windows as the appeal of bluestone lintels
locally produced became popular, replacing earlier,
possibly cruder materials and forms.
Additionally, in Saugerties we have examples of stone
houses built at different points in Saugerties history. The
Brink house on the town’s southern border and the
Eligh/Kocherthal house on the northern one probably date
from the late 1600's and were vernacular, owner-built farm
houses. Whereas the architect-designed Winston Mansion
dates from the early 1920's and a Depression-era stone
house built by WPA-trained stone masons represent
“recent” structures. Among these vastly different stylistic
Page number 5Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
and early 20th century buildings: Main-Partition Streets
Historic District
Historic Landscapes span all periods: Opus 40,
recognized as an inspired sensitivity to the altered land form,
shows how to properly treat the scenic, artistic and
archaeological elements along our land and water byways.
Using the above mentioned Kiersted House as an
example, the Sidebar demonstrates the incorporation of the
Secretary’s Standards into the creation of our unique
Guidelines – thus merging historical considerations and the
community sensibility of Saugerties. (SEE SIDEBAR).
Standards and guidelines benefit a historic community
like Saugerties. They give a consistent way of explaining
why something of historic significance should stay the same
or not be changed. They are the way we encourage a uniform
preservation ethic throughout the community. They set the
tone of our intentions. This publication tries to make
preservation easy to do by giving clearly defined, published
and acknowledged standards and guidelines. That is our
purpose.
periods, in general, it is the vernacular look that is most
common and best characterize the look of the stone house
of Saugerties. The vast majority of these were built in the
decades of the 18th century that mark the period of the
Kiersted House that we have chosen as our model.
Secretary's Standard #4 recognizes that "most
properties change over time" and that any change that has
"historic significance in its own right shall be retained and
preserved." In the case of the National Register Trumpbour
Farmstead, an original 1750's stone house, the official
listing even allowed inclusion of two later period houses
built on the same farmstead property, recognizing them as
contributing to the "acquired historic significance" of the
overall landscape as a landmark.
Accordingly, with Standard #4 and the remaining six
standards, all of which address what is recognized as
"historic" and what is acceptable in the maintenance of
historic properties, we can confidently rely on the Kiersted
House as a reference for all acceptable change for
buildings from that era. In general we can count on the
Kiersted House's authenticity to set the standard for anyone
looking for guidance in dealing with an historic design
appearance or for rehabilitation guidance for their own
property, regardless of whether it is a stone house or not.
Our guidelines using the Kiersted House as the
Standard example of that period, maintains the look and
feel of an historic Saugerties colonial era environment.
Stone houses are very durable which is why they are still
around as they remind us of what the less durable houses of
the colonial period in Saugerties probably looked like. So
whether a house is frame or stone, the pitch of the roof,
placement of windows, dormers and entries, and the trim at
openings and roof lines were likely the same. It is such
details that define this period and upon which we base our
guidelines for preservation.
The Kiersted House and other stone houses and their
settings are the best indicators of what should be an
acceptable standard for rehabilitations of current
structures or proposed new buildings that will fit into any
neighborhood lucky enough to have a stone house.
Saugerties actually has several "tribute" or "homage" stone
houses found throughout the township. These are more
recently constructed while being built to a standard chosen
to reflect the look of the stone houses of earliest Saugerties.
These houses confirm the principle that a sensitive design
using the scale, materials, and color of the original as their
model adds to the value of the new construction and thus to
the quality of the community.
One further comment; the many Dutch and English
style barns throughout Saugerties that generally
accompanied the farmhouse on the property should not be
overlooked when it comes to adhering to preservation
standards. The ones that survive are often relics of the later
agricultural period and, as functional structures, often
replaced deteriorated ones from the 18th century but with a
functional style that retained the same look and occupied
the landscape in the same way. Needless to say, the purpose
of the stone house would be lost significantly if the
remaining barns of the roadsides and the rural open setting
of Saugerties' agricultural era were lost.
Page number 6Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The Trumpbour Homestead 1732 stone house is the centerpiece of theNational Register of Historic Places historic landscape Trumpbour farm.
Early Documentary History
he earliest record of a non-native presence in
Saugerties is in 1609 with the voyage of Henry THudson. Documentation continues through 131
years of the Colonial Period and into
the early years of the United States,
from the 1688 charter of the
"Corporation of Kingston" to our
separation as the new Town of
Saugerties in 1811.
The very first extant record is a
survey of our natural resources and
description of our native population
found in the journal of Hudson's
voyage. The next record is from
1683 when the confluence of our
Sawyer Kill and the Hudson River is
made the boundary point between the original counties of
Ulster and Albany. The property that occupies this location
on the river, Anchorage Farm, was designated a landmark of
the Town of Saugerties on December 17th 2007.
The area that would become Saugerties was first
mentioned in the Andros Treaty of 1677 as lands previously
granted to "the Sawyer"; however, there is no record of this
grant.
Records earlier then 1677 seem to indicate a population
may have built near the Plattekill on Saugerties' southern
border. In documents of the time this was variously called
"precinct of Kingston" and "dead mens bones". In these early
records, mill sites and compound locations called "innsteads"
were recorded as on "the footpath to
Albany" implying, if not settlement,
continuous traffic northward across
Saugerties, at this early date.
The first recorded deeds for land
overlaying the present Town of Saugerties
are the Meales and Hayes patent in 1686
and the Kingston patent in 1687, granted
by James II, King of England.
General Guidelines for references accepted for Town and Village landmark declarations of historical significance
1. Declaration of historical significance of the cultural
environment of places and structures must use references to
publically accessible records
2. Up-to-date lists of names and locations of recognized
resources accepted for documenting historical significance
of a property within a municipality must be available
through that municipality
3. Only publicly available and locally recognized records that are electronically published and electronically searchable or are available in the Saugerties Public Library Local History Reference Room are acceptable as resources referenced when making positive or negative declarations of historical significance.
Purchas’s Pilgrimes Chap. XVIJournal of Robert Juet of Limehouse 1909 Half Moon Tricentennial replica with Overlook on horizon
The History we have Preserved
Page number 7Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Publications:
The Pearl 1875 Leon Barrett & Edward Jernegan - digitized in pdf at the Saugerties Public Library
Records:
Deeds, wills, leases and surveys on file in record books of Ulster County Clerk at the Records Room of the Ulster County Office Building, Fair Street, Kingston NY and County Archives,
at 300 Foxhall Avenue in Kingston, NY
Town of Saugerties Historic Resources Survey March 2005 Volumes 1 & 2, copies in Saugerties Public Library and Saugerties Historical Society. Digitized version available in History Atlas of Saugerties at Saugerties Public Library
on Essential Saugerties CD
History of Ulster County 1881 Nathaniel Bartlett Sylvester - Saugerties section digitized in searchable pdf on Essential Saugerties CD at the Saugerties Public Library
History of Kingston, New York 1888 Marius Schoonmaker - Downloadable in pdf from the Library of Congress web siteHistory of Saugerties 1901 Benjamin Myer Brink - digitized in searchable pdf on Essential Saugerties CD at the Saugerties Public Library or downloadable from Gutenberg Project in various formats from internet
Ulster County Records Center
Recognized Resource Documents
The first record of a settler is in a 1687 deed from the
Meales and Hayes patent for land near the mouth of the
Esopus Creek. This deed documents a well established
homestead had already existed there preceding the patent. It
catalogues a house, water conveyances to a mill, and herd
pens and shelters. The remains of a roadway first described
in a 1712 deed that referenced the location of this
1687 homestead was designated a landmark of
both the Town and Village of Saugerties October
18th, 2010. The roadbed is located on the
property of the Esopus Creek Conservancy and is
part of the Carriage Road designation.
The best use of early records is for mapping
sensitive cultural sites for environmental review
of proposed land developments, thus these 17th
century records are of locations that may be of
archaeological interest.
It is to the documents of the early 18th century
that we turn to in order to identify the historical
significance of structures built then, still standing
today, that are of preservation interest.
Our earliest structures
he early 1700's saw an exponential
increase of settlement on land that is Tnow inside the Town of Saugerties.
Documents from late 1710 place a large colony of
Palatine refugees settled in the area now known as West
Camp. The Kocherthal/Eligh stone house at West
Camp was designated a landmark of the Town of
Saugerties, June 24th, 2004.
A 1712 deed from part of the 1686 Meales
and Hayes patent to John Persen, was for land in
the area of the future Village of Saugerties in
trade for his house in the village of Kingston.
The well maintained Mynderse stone house built
by John Persen is a surveyed but
undesignated landmark in the
Village of Saugerties.
A 1719 deed from the same
Current photo of the Kocherthal/Eligh House
Current photo of the Evert Wynkoop House
Period photo of Mynderse House
Detail of John Kiersted 1825 survey of roadcrossing at Esopus Bend to lower Main Street
Page number 8Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
2005 Survey Landmark #92005 Survey Landmark #9
2005 Survey Landmark #122005 Survey Landmark #12
2005 Survey Landmark #62005 Survey Landmark #6
2005 Survey Landmark #112005 Survey Landmark #11
2005 Survey Landmark #162005 Survey Landmark #16
2005 Survey Landmark #212005 Survey Landmark #21
2005 Survey Landmark #232005 Survey Landmark #23
2005 Survey Landmark #252005 Survey Landmark #25
2005 Survey Landmark #292005 Survey Landmark #29
2005 Survey Landmark #322005 Survey Landmark #32
Colonial era stone houses from the2005 Town of Saugerties Historic Resources Survey
Kaatsbaan Church in 2005 survey photoKaatsbaan Church in 1865 photoKaatsbaan Church in 1731
Colonial era stone houses from the2005 Town of Saugerties Historic Resources Survey
Dr. Kiersted’s house from Brink’s Early History of Saugerties, 1901
Capt. Egbert Schoonmaker house from 1978 Village survey
Page number 9Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
2005 Survey Landmark #492005 Survey Landmark #49
2005 Survey Landmark #592005 Survey Landmark #592005 Survey Landmark #202005 Survey Landmark #20
2005 Survey Landmark #612005 Survey Landmark #61
2005 Survey Landmark #552005 Survey Landmark #55
2005 Survey Landmark #622005 Survey Landmark #62
2005 Survey Landmark #922005 Survey Landmark #922005 Survey Landmark #912005 Survey Landmark #91
2005 Survey Landmark #992005 Survey Landmark #99
2005 Survey Landmark #1012005 Survey Landmark #101
2005 Survey Landmark #1002005 Survey Landmark #100
2005 Survey Landmark #1052005 Survey Landmark #105
2005 Survey Landmark #1062005 Survey Landmark #106
2005 Survey Landmark #1172005 Survey Landmark #117
2005 Survey Landmark #1022005 Survey Landmark #102
1686 Meales and Hayes patent sells land in the area of the
Winston Farm to Evert Wynkoop. The Evert
Wynkoop stone house was designated a
landmark of the Town of
Saugerties, May 14th
2004.
The
Palatines
migrated from
West Camp,
which is near the Hudson, to the lands toward the base of the
nearby Catskill Mountains. Their many rural stone houses
served as shelter and protection in these "wild" lands. These
settlers built a stone church in 1731 at Kaatsbaan on the
Kings Highway -- midway between their new homesteads
and West Camp. The records of the families of this church
give an idea of how many stone houses must once have been
in this northern part of Saugerties. The Kaatsbaan Church
was designated a landmark of the Town of Saugerties,
December 27th 2004.
In this early period the Kaatsbaan Church and Palatine
settlements were all located north of the Ulster County
border, in the original Albany County. If deeds existed at that
time they were not part of the local record.
In 1753, at the time of the French and Indian War, the
Town of Kingston annexed these Albany County settled
lands (now located in the northern area of Saugerties) in
order to enlist their inhabitants' in its militia. Deeds and
leases were recorded at that time. This annexation remained
in dispute through the period of the
Revolution and up to the time that the
borders of the new Town of Saugerties
were placed fully within Ulster County.
The Revolutionary War burning of
Kingston in October of 1777 made the
outlying communities into relief centers
for the affected Kingston population for a
brief period of time during the winter of
1777-78, the same bitter winter as Valley
Forge! One focal point of resettlement
was centered around the tavern of
Abraham Post, located on the river road to Albany. Just east
of Post's tavern was a stone house built in 1727 by Hezekiah
DuBois, later to become the home of Dr. Christopher
Kiersted. A little further north on that road was the stone
house of Egbert Schoonmaker and, on the river, was the
stone house of Myndert Mynderse (mentioned earlier). These
stone houses and the no longer standing frame houses and
tavern of the large Post family,
formed the core of what would
become the Village of
Saugerties.
The Kiersted House - a
Colonial Model
he 1727 Kiersted
House is one of the Tearliest of these
stone houses in Saugerties. It is
listed on the National Register, and is currently the home of
the Saugerties Historical Society. Today, the Kiersted
House, its lawns and adjacent open space perfectly embrace
that heritage of our Colonial past. This property's unchanged
character, located close to the village center, is today as
much a symbol of our earliest beginnings as it was
throughout all of Saugerties' periods of cultural growth and
physical expansion and thus is fitting to be the model for all
colonial period preservation in Saugerties.
Page number 10Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
GUIDELINES FOR THE KIERSTED HOUSE MODEL
(These guidelines approach appropriateness in new construction
based on whether the architecture will be harmonious with the
characteristic style of its immediate environs. Both derivative
architecture and compatible contemporary architecture are appropriate
so long as they are carefully crafted as not to upstage or to disrupt a
neighborhood's ambiance. The objective is to maintain continuity with
the past and to protect and enhance the heritage as a whole.)
Guidelines for Walls
During the early colonial era defense specifications
for frontier houses required them to be built of stone
with full basements. The majority of surviving stone
houses have expanded beyond this specification.
Indicators of their original structure such as seams
and mating lines and base-level entries are important
for establishing age in historic houses and should
remain visible and in good repair.
The original locations and sizes of window and door
openings in stone walls should not be covered, resized
or filled. Corbeled heads above window or door
openings in stone walls are evidence of early
construction and should not be restructured. If repairs
to or bracing of window openings and lintels is
necessary, it should be undertaken in a manner that
leaves the stone as the primary visual element. Steel
2005 Survey Landmark #1182005 Survey Landmark #118
2005 Survey Landmark #1272005 Survey Landmark #127 2005 Survey Landmark #1302005 Survey Landmark #130
2005 Survey Landmark #1342005 Survey Landmark #134
2005 Survey Landmark #1362005 Survey Landmark #136
2005 Survey Landmark #1222005 Survey Landmark #122
2005 Survey Landmark #1372005 Survey Landmark #137 2005 Survey Landmark #1482005 Survey Landmark #148
2005 Survey Landmark #1532005 Survey Landmark #153
National Register listed1727 DuBois/Kiersted Stone HouseSaugerties Historical Society
wall-integrated chimney (replaced here)
Multiple chimneys
Multiple entries (mother-daughter)
Corbeled header opening
Roof edge trim flush to walls
Unbroken roof surface
Limited number of windows
Mos
t in
tact
spe
cim
en o
f ea
rly
18th
cen
tury
ver
nacu
lar
ston
e f
oreb
ay f
arm
hou
se, R
icks
La.
, Vet
eran
Mating seam of original house(random stone courses)
Dormers breaking roof surface (typically late 19th century)
Merging section(interim pre-center hall entry)
Later expansion house(more formal stone shaping)
12 over 8 windows(late 18th century)
Asymmetric gable end wall (Typically pre-1750)
Cantilevered forebay shelter (Typically pre-1750)
Symmetrical gabled expansion(Typically post-1750)
Ground-level banked cellar entry (backfilled here)
Colonial era stone houses from the2005 Town of Saugerties Historic Resources Survey
2005 Survey Landmark #1542005 Survey Landmark #154
Colonial Period Stone Houses
tone houses are the only
thing we have that can tell Sthe story of this early
colonial period. Their presence has
been frozen in time and thus
presents a partial picture of the way
their 18th century residents ate,
slept, worked, and, unceremoniously, built a community.
Stone house examples that can be dated from the early to
mid decades of the 18th century are found along the Kings
Highway, along river roads south and north of the Village of
Saugerties, in Veteran and running west toward Woodstock,
and also in the Saxton Flats.
Many of Saugerties' early 18th
century stone houses are preserved in
near original form. These are all 1 ½
story with functional basements.
Those in rural settings were built into
banks with an exposed basement
entry. They usually had a full length
porch a level above the ground as
their main floor entry. When first built
they were designed for livestock to be
sheltered in the basement and
provisions stored in the garret; an
all-purpose shelter for all the
family's possessions.
On the other hand, houses of this
period with no level basement entry,
found mostly on flat fields, were
meant from the beginning to be part
of a barn and stable complex.
Typically they belonged to a second
or third generation family with more of a business plan for
land use. In these houses, their main floor was
raised as high as a three step Dutch stoop.
Some have "summer kitchen" additions but
most have basements designed as
kitchens and slave quarters.
All of the stone
houses from this
as a hidden support below original stone is one approach
that can be an acceptable repair.
If it is necessary to patch or replace individual stones, such
work should be completed with stone of the same type as
predominates on the wall. Where brick work is repaired,
used brick of a surface matching the original and intended
for the same exterior placement, matching the original in
size, shape, and color are appropriate. Exposed stone or
masonry surfaces should remain exposed. Surfaces should
never be covered with new materials such as vinyl,
aluminum, dryvit, T-111, etc.
Routine repair and maintenance of any masonry surface
requires re-pointing that duplicates the historic condition.
For example, the grout material and color, the tooling style
of grout and color and type of masonry should all be
consistent with the existing materials.
Stone or masonry surfaces which have not been painted
previously should not be painted. Painting will cover
defining features such as stone type and color, joint profiles
and bonding patterns and fills. Painting will also create an
instant and continuing maintenance expense into the future.
Some previously-painted surfaces should be re-painted.
If owners wish to clean the paint from historic stone or
masonry surfaces, this treatment should be undertaken only
using the gentlest effective means possible. In no case
should abrasive cleaning (i.e., sandblasting, water-
blasting, blasting with nut shells, etc.) be used. Further
guidance for cleaning is found in the U. S. Department of
the Interior's Preservation Briefs No. 1, The Cleaning and
Waterproof Coating of Masonry Buildings and No. 37,
Removing Graffiti from Historic Buildings. A test patch
should always be taken prior to beginning a major cleaning
project, since the surface may not be suitable for cleaning
due to its age or condition. Also replacement materials may
have been installed that are better hidden with paint.
Always inspect the building fully before beginning a
cleaning project; window and door openings may have
been altered and in-filled with materials that do not match
the original and the building may look better re-painted
than cleaned. Stone and masonry cleaning, particularly
paint-stripping, must be undertaken in an environmentally-
responsible fashion. The paint on older buildings is very
likely lead-based, and when removed should be disposed of
properly.
Later colonial and post-Revolution homes and stone house
additions were H-frame structures using clapboard as the
predominant siding material. Typically the spacing was
quite narrow with an exposure of around 3 ½ inches but
was often narrower on the bottom, started with a flat
termite board and were adjusted so that a full clapboard
would fall above and below window and door frames.
Board and batten style siding was commonly used for barns
and other outbuildings.
Additions and alterations to existing structures should use
building materials original to the structure. Board and
batten siding is more appropriate for accessory buildings
than a primary structure. Typically it is appropriate for
vinyl or aluminum replacement siding to be used only if the
details of the structure remain unchanged and if the
structure is not a designated landmark. Routine repair of
siding of any type should not alter the appearance of the
structure. Because it is difficult to match the texture of
adjoining materials when replacing siding, the repair of Page number 11Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Kaatsbaan Church rear wall retainsoriginal 1732 stone work and date stones
Cockburn stone houseoriginal 1770 stone work
Random course wall with originalground level basement entry intact
Original 1740’s gable end of Evert Wynkoop House
period are
vernacular
structures whose
"style" is unique to
an Ulster County
Dutch building tradition. This tradition is easily identifiable
by the random lay of the courses of their walls of rough
limestone, called cliff stone for the random size it is found
in, i.e., it was not quarried to size.
The "texture" of the walls shows a distinct selection
process in stone placement; not just in the arrangement of
sizes, but in the arrangement of colors and mineral
composition patterns of the face sides of individual stones.
The most pristine of the preserved houses have undergone no
restructuring of these original wall patterns; however, most
stone houses have gone through some change over their long
lives. The most common alteration, and one that
compromised the original builder's wall composition,
happened when original wood framed window openings
were replaced with bluestone lintels and sills.
The next most common modification is of the roof line
with alteration of the gable ends. Changing the roof pitch
while adapting the loft for living space and adding dormers
was common in the late 19th century. The original roofs
with open frames holding thatch were built to be replaced,
and often were at regular maintenance periods. Because of
this practice the typical stone house's style pays little
attention to roof trim or gutters. They attach to the wall with
a simple board, placed there only to keep the drafts out.
For some stone home owners, the roof's regular
maintenance change became an opportunity to add some
contemporary style to the
house. At that time, the roof
would then become more
existing siding with wood restoration products is
encouraged. Replacement materials must match the color,
texture, shape and pattern of existing portions. Siding
products that are new to market such as cementaceous
fiberboard siding are appropriate if they duplicate the
original material in appearance and texture.
New construction should incorporate building materials
traditional to the neighborhood. The use of natural siding
materials including clapboard and brick is encouraged.
The use of aluminum and vinyl siding is discouraged on
any new construction which has a prominent location.
Guidelines for Foundations
Saugerties' earliest foundations were of native limestone,
bluestone and stone topped with brick. The ground level
bank house with a raised front foundation is an important
architectural element of the 18th century in Saugerties. The
high foundation form remained popular through the 19th
century for field and hamlet houses. Many of the most
ancient houses have had foundation walls back-filled with
their ground entries stepped in landscaping schemes. Re-
exposure of the lower walls can be highly appropriate in
restoration of historic structures, and may actually help
address moisture problems occurring in the basement or
lower walls.
If the design in a new construction calls for exposed
foundation walls and/or raised basement stories, local
building tradition dictates the use of brick facing or
traditional stonework. Large exposed areas of concrete
foundation are not considered appropriate.
The same concerns should be taken with historic stone and
brick foundations as with more visible components of
historic structures. Further, care should be taken to keep
them free from concentrations of excessive moisture. Use
the same measures recommended for stone walls for
cleaning and repairing.
Guidelines for Chimneys
Typically chimneys of the colonial period are red brick with
straight, undecorated courses that terminate with a single
step outward. Chimneys should be maintained in their
original height, form and design. If a new chimney is
constructed, it should match the existing chimneys in style
and material. Non-masonry chimney stacks should not be
used.
Guidelines for Roof Form
Typically eighteenth and early nineteenth century houses
were built with a relatively steep pitch of about 8-12 inches
in vertical dimension to every 12" horizontally. Many
colonial era homes were side gable designs allowing this
broad expanse of the roof to face the entry. The pitch of the
roof is a defining element of these buildings. Appropriate
roof designs will reflect that characteristic roof form in
most colonial era Saugerties neighborhoods.
The eaves or meeting of the roof to the walls at gable and
side faces is relatively flush on Saugerties' colonial era
homes. Early 19th century additions of box gutters for rain
water collection is common in closely built neighborhoods
where building sites relate to roads more than water
source. Design of broad overhangs at gable ends are
inappropriate. Either flush trim board edges or box gutters
transitioned to the wall with broad frieze boards are
appropriate for roof edges.
Page number 12Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Early 20th century photo and current restoration ofonce common 18th century timber-over-stone bank house
Early 20th century photo andcurrent adaptive reuse ofan early 19th century stone house
Guidelines for Roofing
Historically, Saugerties' colonial homes typically would
have had wood shingle roofs after the earliest use of less
permanent materials. The preservation of existing wood
roofs is encouraged. Howeve, wooden roofs were meant to
wear out and be replaced with new wood and today,
wooden roofs might not meet fire codes and are being found
not to last as long as those made from older- old growth
wood. For this reason the State Historic Preservation
Officer is comfortable with the use of alternative materials
that have the appearance of wood but may last much
longer, be fire resistant and more economical for the
property owner.
The use of original roofing materials is encouraged where
practical in restoration or replacement and the use of
traditional materials characteristic to the neighborhood is
encouraged in new buildings. In some instances,
alternative roofing material may be acceptable as a
practical replacement to the original roofing material.
Architectural asphalt shingle colors are available from
manufacturers that simulate the original wood material.
Care must be taken in the choice of color in these simulated
materials.
Guidelines for Dormers
Saugerties' early agricultural period houses typically did
not have dormers. Lofts or garrets were functional storage
areas and sometimes sleeping areas of a house. The first
wide spread use of multiple gabled dormers occurred with
the advent of the Federal style (Ca. 1790-1830). Also, you
may find some shed roof dormers added as Dutch revival thelements in the early 20 century. Many stone houses in
Saugerties that did not have walls raised in Federal period
restructuring had broad cross gable fronts added for a
second floor. Dormers are important markers of the change
of architectural styles and the growth of buildings to
accommodate growing needs. Where historic and existing,
their materials and stylistic details should be retained.
In general both gable and shed dormers may be an
appropriate way to use existing attic space. However, the
addition of new dormers on existing architecturally
significant roof surfaces is discouraged. Dormers may also
be a useful way to reduce the apparent scale of new
construction. If shed dormers are used they should be
clearly subordinate to the primary roof form and best used
on appropriately pitched roofs. Flush dormers (also called
wall dormers) that are continuous with a wall below are
discouraged. All dormer windows should match the
predominant patterns and placement of the existing
windows of the wall below.
Skylights are inappropriate for colonial era structures and,
if needed, should be relegated to parts of the house not
visible from the street. A well-designed dormer, where
appropriate, will serve the same purpose as well as
increasing the living space.
Guidelines for Gutters and Downspouts
Up until the turn of the century, water drainage systems
usually consisted of diversionary rooftop devices built into
the roof structure.
Attached metal gutters that are appropriate for most
historic structures in Saugerties are the half round style.
The square metal form most commonly used today was
introduced in the 1950's and is most appropriately used on
permanent usually indicating a period of prosperity after the
Revolution. Many of the Saugerties stone houses have
Federal elements, such as the Kiersted house's central fan
windowed shed dormer.
The stone houses built in the late 18th and early 19th
century were all two story structures with Georgian style
symmetrical design and Georgian finishing details. In this
period more dimensional, finished quarried stone was used.
During this post-Revolution era, some of Saugerties' early
stone houses underwent expansion to "keep up with the
Jones'." Some were restructured to add a story, sometimes
totally replacing the random course rough limestone front
walls and corners with quarried stone. In extreme cases this
modification has replaced the original vernacular structures
to the point of obliterating all indications of their earlier date.
Interiors of structures have always been versatile. By the
time our earliest stone houses had reached the 20th century
some may have been occupied by seven or eight generations
of the same family. It is not unusual to find interior changes
to beams, floor boards, rafters, and shakes at least once every
sixty or seventy years. Thus it is rare to discover original
fabric in an interior.
Page number 13Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Gabled summer kitchen rear wall shed extensions of Kiersted House
The
Pet
rus
Mye
r ho
use
is o
n th
e 17
63 C
lint
on m
ap a
nd r
e-st
yled
in
the
earl
y 19
th c
entu
ry
contemporary homes or as a replacement for similarly
styled wood gutters. Green and brown are the most
appropriate colors for these features as that will help them
recede visually.
Guidelines for Trim & Ornamentation
The trim and ornamentation of a building play an
important role in defining its character. Historic
houses often have purely decorative applied trim that
may be found on windows, doors, porch columns, and
eaves.
Original existing trim and ornament should be
preserved or repaired in keeping with the original
design. Epoxy based wood restoration products can
repair damaged or rotted wood quite nicely.
Replacement of lost trim and ornament is encouraged,
with appropriate historic documentation. The addition
of trim and ornamentation for which no historic
precedence exists is inappropriate. Trim and
ornamentation on additions should display the
characteristic use of trim and ornamentation found on the
main house. In many instances this may be done in a more
simplified fashion than the main structure.
Trim on new buildings should be appropriate to examples
withinthe neighborhood. Highly elaborate ornamentation is
usually inappropriate for new construction.
Guidelines for Windows and Doorways
The proportion, rhythm, and relative symmetry of entrances
and fenestration (the location, size, shape, pattern, and
rhythm of windows and window openings) are basic design
elements and major factors in identifying the characteristic
style and building traditions of historic homes, an historic
district and in the choice of windows at an appropriate new
addition to a neighborhood.
As styles progressed through history, windows became both
larger and more frequent and doorways became more
decorative. In time, windows became decorative in their
own right balancing doorway details. By the middle of the
nineteenth century, windows were grouped into decorative
and projecting bays and by the end of that century into
horizontal window bands.
Addition and enlargement of window openings,
enlargement of doorways and movement of door and
window openings to adjust symmetry is the most frequently
encountered and earliest change found in early stone and
frame houses. When found to record local cultural
transitions these changes are appropriate to retain in an
historic property and should not be changed further.
Typically Colonial and Federal era windows had a fixed
upper sash and a moveable lower sash, known as a single
hung sash. The windows consisted of multiple smaller
panes of glass separated by wooden muntins. The earlier
the window in general, the more the number of panes in a
sash. Sash windows are described by the number of panes
per sash. For example, 8 over 12 or 12 over 12 windows
are characteristic of the Colonial and Federal Eras. By
1830 technology allowed larger panes of glass to be
produced and one sees for the first time 6 over 6 windows
and by 1850 2 over 2 windows. As styles evolved many
homeowners of 18th and 19th century houses updated their
windows with newer sash configurations with fewer panes.
Colonial doorways had single or double (Dutch) doors
without lights. 17th and 18th century doors consisted of
Early Entrepreneurship in Saugerties
y the 1790's a business district
in what was to become the BVillage had begun to develop
west of the Post Tavern and Kiersted House.
On period maps one can see the north-south
roads meeting those from the west, and all
were heading towards the river. This
confluence was on the edge of the farm lands where the level
plain begins to drop down to the Esopus Creek's confluence
with the Hudson River. The road from the west passing
Post's and going to the river had been used by the
Livingston's of Clermont since the 1740's. This route served
to transport the products of their tenants in the Catskill
Mountains to the river and ferrying to their warehouses on
the other side of the Hudson. The Livingston's commercial
traffic to the south with Kingston was also from this ferry
point. As early as 1687 a road to Albany is noted as a
landmark on the Meales and Hayes Sawyerkill patent here.
In early deeds for farm lands around these crossroads the
only business activity noted is in the name "Mill Road" so it
Page number 14Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Late 19th century photo of Post’s Tavernfrom Brink’s Early History of Saugerties
shed porch roof Corbeled headerEntry to the Kiersted House
Entry to the Wynkoop House
Corbeled stone headerFrame headerFrame jamb
Muntin
Wood sill
Meeting railWindow light
Bottom rail
Parts of an 8-over-8Kiersted House window
Sash
2-panel shutter
Dutch stoop
Shed dormerGable dormer
12 over 12 window
8 over 12 window
Bluestone lintel(mid 19th century)
Fan window(20th century Colonial Revival)
Frame headerTransom light
Transom barTransom mullion
Dutch door mating rails
Bottom rail
Cut stone sill
Panel
Cut stone lintel withincised builder marks
MuntinCenter stile
vertical flush boards, mid to late 18th century doors had
raised panels. On earlier Colonial and Federal era houses,
the doorway was usually centrally located and was given
the highest degree of ornamentation. Transom and side
lights appear after 1780.
Replacement of historic doors is discouraged. Repair of
existing historic doors or replacement with new doors that
duplicate the original design are the only appropriate
actions.
Restoration of original windows is encouraged where
windows have been removed or where later replacements
are historically inappropriate. Some exceptions include
later replacements where the replacement itself is
historically significant and represent a significant period in
the building's history. Windows without historic precedence
should not be added to existing primary architectural
facades.
In general the retention and repair of an existing historic
window in lieu of replacement is strongly encouraged.
Replacement of windows is appropriate if the historic
windows are beyond repair or it is infeasible to
appropriately weatherize or retrofit them for energy
efficiency. They must, however, be in keeping with the
design, configuration, size, setback, and all other qualities
of the original window(s). Replacement of true divided
lights with fake snap-in grills is inappropriate. Some
window replacement products with insulating glass can use
thicker muntins which can significantly change the
window's appearance and be inappropriate for the style of
house. In general, wood windows should be replaced with
wood windows, and windows with factory applied paint
(primer or finish) are preferred to vinyl or aluminum clad
windows.
New buildings should have fenestration and doorways
located to reflect the characteristic proportions and
rhythms of those of neighboring buildings. Similarly
window and door openings in new additions should be
spaced to reflect the characteristic proportions and rhythm
of the existing building, though they may be diminished in
scale to reflect the secondary importance of the addition to
the main mass of the building.
Storm doors and windows are appropriate additions for
keeping homes warm. Used historically, they were typically
built of wood and were replaced with wood framed screens
for the warmer months. However, many of these features
have been lost over time and replaced with metal "triple
track" windows. New storm doors and windows should be
of a plain, undecorated design, not conflicting with the
primary window or door in design or configuration. It is
best if meeting rails and other components of new storm
window line up with those of the primary window.
Homes typically were not designed for exterior shutters
until the mid-19th century. For example, Colonial and
Federal era houses did not typically space windows for
exterior shutters. Shutters were originally used for
protection from storms, sun and for privacy. Appropriate
installation of shutters requires that if closed they would
cover the entire window. Paired shutters should flank a
single window and should be sized so that the pair of
shutters are equal to the width of the window frame.
Shutters come in different styles such as louvered or
paneled. If installing shutters that are not replacing
existing shutters, property owners should keep the
would appear that
from as early as the
1740's businesses
here may have also
supported millers at
mills on the Esopus
falls and their
patrons.
By 1790 Robert
R. Livingston had
begun acquiring land around the plateau's south and west
edge and down the slopes to the Esopus Creek's mill sites.
He had roads laid out and lots surveyed in the area of
present-day Ulster, Livingston, Market and Main Streets.
The first store was built here at the northeast corner of
Market and Main around 1800 by John R.
Livingston. A tavern on the other side of this
intersection, run by Myndert
Mynderse, had been there
earlier.
Between 1806 and
1816 Asa Bigelow, then
George Gay and finally
Jeremiah Russell,
successively ran businesses
in John Livingston's building
and a proto-village began to take form around this location.
On a survey map from 1825 by John Kiersted the area from
Livingston Street down Market, Main, and Partition Streets
is already divided into lots with a few residential houses
pictured.
In addition to this
future Village of
Saugerties location an
early center of
commercial activity
was Glasco. The
earliest turnpike
crossing Saugerties
was the "first
branch" road, a spur
of the Delaware and
Hudson Turnpike
Page number 15Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The Fiero house on Kings Highway is a typical framepost-Revolution roadside residentia /tavern structure l
In the early 19th century the 2nd and 3rd generation of the agricultural class chose to buildthe first totally residential structures close to of Saugerties the future village center
Early Malden town house occupying the same lotas on the original 1812 map for the village of Bristol
that brought goods to
the Hudson River from
the center of the state.
The 1810 survey plan
for Glasco names its
streets Genesee, Delaware, Hudson and Hartford after the
starting point and planned destination of the turnpike in
Connecticut. Connecticut yankee businessmen and investors
were Glasco's proprietors and founders. It flourished until
the Erie Canal created economies that drove all the turnpikes
into decline.
Another early commercial village was Bristol. It was
founded by Asa Bigelow, another Connecticut yankee, in
1812 as a factoring center for hides destined for the tanneries
at the top of the mountains. Bristol is present day Malden
and the Malden turnpike is the road Asa Bigelow built to
capture this tannery business.
By the end of the first quarter of the 19th century
Saugerties had developed four major land transportation
routes and three tidewater shipping ports. Its early
commercial period is preserved in the churches, shops,
schools and houses of these villages on the Hudson and of
the hamlets that grew along those mountain turnpike routes.
Preservable assets from the Town's first decades
n the spring of 1811 the Town of
Saugerties began its life. Its earliest Iinhabitants had farmed, herded cattle
and cut wood on its soil for
many generations when large
parts of this territory were
considered as part of the
common lands belonging to the
Town of Kingston as a result of
the Kingston patent of 1687. Up
to 1804, the land to become
Saugerties had, relatively
speaking, very little privately
owned property. What was
owned were farmsteads either
close to the main road -- the
Kings Highway, or part of a
Page number 16Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
1812 Bigelow Homestead House, Malden-on-Hudsonwith portico and federal entranceway facing river
1811 corporate outline of the Town of Saugertiesfrom the 1829 map of Ulster County
following guidelines in mind:
If the shutters are not operable, they should be installed in
a manner that imitates a hinged shutter.
If louvered shutters are used, louvers should face
upward in an open position.
The style of shutter installed should be consistent with
the style of the house. For example elaborate Victorian
shutters would not be appropriate on a Colonial home.
Guidelines for Entranceways and Porches
Historically, entryways have been a major character-
defining element of a home. The entranceway was often the
primary decorative feature of colonial era structures.
Commonly, early photographs of stone houses show simple
Dutch stoop entranceways, some in a mother-daughter
division, or two entrances, two stoops to a front, while the
majority of their altered stone house counterparts received
Victorian porches. Many early pre-industrial frame houses
in Saugerties today retain their original simple entries.
Throughout the Victorian era and into the early 20th
century, the porch remained a characteristic architectural
feature. Porches were often the most embellished
architectural element of a house and were added to provide
exterior living space, provide more protection for the entry,
or update the architectural style of the building. Removing
existing porches, particularly one not original to the house
but added during the historic period is inappropriate.
Doing so would strip the entranceway of a primary street-
front characteristic. The preservation and restoration of
porch detail is crucial and should be considered as part of
any appropriate design. The reconstruction of a lost porch
is strongly encouraged, if historic documentation of the
porch is available, If there is no such documentation
available, the new porch should be based on historic
precedence for either the style of the building or for the
most appropriate transitional improvement based on
historic houses of the same period. For new structures, an
appropriately scaled and located porch can be an
appropriate way to relate to the scale of a neighborhood
and "fit in".
Porch additions to building types which traditionally did
not have any porches should be limited to the rear side of
the building where possible and all such additions should
be compatible with the style and detail of the building.
Depending on the style, a new porch roof pitch may
reflect the main roof form of the building or may be shed
or appear flat.
Enclosing an existing porch is generally inappropriate. If
considering porch enclosure, it is recommended that this
occur only at a side or rear elevation porch. If enclosing
such a porch the finished space should retain porch
elements in place, constructing enclosure framing inside of
porch columns and railings. Screening in a traditionally
open porch requires sensitivity. The look of a temporary
enclosure is preferable, such as screens or glazing that are
removed seasonally and retain the character of reversible
enclosure by being placed within vertical and horizontal
framing members that align behind porch elements like
columns and railings so as not to visually interfere with or
damage decorative or unique historic building fabric.
Guidelines for Fire Exits and Handicapped Access
Exterior stairs to upper level entrances are generally
inappropriate to the historic context and thus should be
concealed from public view and only used when no other
practical approach meets the safety code. Such features
should reflect the detail and finish of the main structure. In
additions, plans should provide an interior exit.
Retrofitting for handicapped accessibility can either be
surprisingly simple for some buildings, difficult to achieve
in historic buildings, but new technology is always. Main
entrances to historic buildings that might be negatively
impacted by the requirements for full accessibility under
the American's with Disabilities Act accessibility
Guidelines (ADAAG) or New York State Code may receive
special consideration, including greatly scaled down
access requirements, or barring that, relief from
accessibility if suitable alternatives to access or
programs is provided.
Where access ramps must be added to visible sides of
a historic structure, they should be made as discrete
as possible by reflecting characteristic details of the
main building. Often such ramps can be constructed
as landscape terraces to further mitigate the visual
impact on the architectural massing of the main structure.
A ramp with a gradual rise of 1 foot per 22 linear feet is
considered a sidewalk and does not require a railing.
Guidelines for Decks and Terraces
While porches, stoops and door-yard entries are
all traditional building elements of the colonial
period, contemporary decks have little historic
precedence. Residential terraces and patios that
are at grade are appropriate landscaping
elements. However, new deck additions should
be limited to the first floor and should be located
out of public view.
Guidelines for Fences and Walls
During the 1700's and 1800's most residences
used fences for animal control. Typically these
utility fences were of rough wood slats or rails
and random-laid stone. Simple picket fences
were typical of the later 19th century and again of the 20th
century. More decorative fences typical of the mid-19th
century when ornate iron work was fashionable are not
appropriate for colonial-era settings.
Existing walls and fences should be preserved wherever
possible. Restoration of existing historic fences and walls is
always preferred to replacement. Where stone walls are
reset or built new, they should follow the traditional
drywall techniques used in original construction.
New fences should follow local traditions
appropriate to the period of the property and
immediate neighborhood. New fences should not
exceed 3 feet in height in any front yard and 6
feet in height on back side and back yards. High
masonry walls, barricade fences, and other large
imposing fence like structures are inappropriate
because they are not characteristic of any period
of Saugerties' history. Chain link fences are
appropriate only in industrial situations and not
at primary public areas of residential and
commercial retail areas (there might be times
when these are appropriate, if they are located
outside of primary elevations and views). Vinyl
fences are discouraged, as they typically have an
appearance that is not in character with historic fencing in
Page number 17Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Dutch “H-bent” barn framing of late colonial Saugerties hamlet cottage
Classic framing on Malden Turnpike late colonial Saugerties hamlet cottage
“Eyebrow” half story windows
handful owned by
Palatines who were
pioneering along the
Saxton Flats and toward
the Woodstock Valley.
The population was
spread out. Less than a
few dozen homes existed in the area we now
call the village, either near the mills at the
Esopus Creek falls or at the landings on
the Hudson. South along the Glasco bluffs
and north at Bristol, river front
development plans were just beginning to
attract settlement. Small clusters of stores
where clove roads up through breaks in the mountain face
met the Kings Highway at Trumpbour's Corners, Kaatsbaan
and Plattekill had stabilized as the centers of business and
small inland settlements.
After the Town of Kingston in
1804 divided its common lands
(which was known as the
Kingston Commons) and began to
sell lots, and even after enough
lots had been purchased to
establish a voting freeholder
population in the area of the new
town of Saugerties, few of these
new property owners were
actually settling on their land. Most of the countryside lots
had been sold to those who were already established
residents in the Churchland, Kaatsbaan or Saxton farmsteads
or still resided in the village of Kingston. The population of
the new Town of Saugerties remained unchanged well into
the first decade of the Town's incorporation.
Saugerties' founding fathers, in
this initial decade, surveyed roads,
established a post office, and
organized the courts. Even though
the first town meeting was in
Kaatsbaan, nearly everything that
happened after that was centered at
the corner of what would be Main
and Market Streets -- within a
short walk of the Town's first Early Colonial period timber framing insulation method using a
progressively packed between clapboards outside andsplit sapling lathe inside.The lapped clapboards creates a form that
leaves the pattern in the photograph.
clay andgrass fiber paste
finish and detail. Planting for screening is only appropriate
when needed to obstruct the otherwise unavoidable public
view of an inappropriate structure or feature, such as
ground mounted electrical transformers or HVAC
equipment . Stockade fencing is only appropriate for this
purpose on a case by case basis.
Guidelines for Outbuildings
Historic outbuildings such as garages, barns, sheds,
carriage houses, and even greenhouses, are all considered
important elements of an historic house setting. In
designated historic properties historic outbuildings can be
as important as principal buildings, requiring appropriate
consideration in repair, maintenance and replacement of
such things as garage doors, building windows, and trim.
Existing historic outbuildings on designated properties are
afforded the same legal protection from demolition as are
principal buildings.
The construction of a garage on a site where an automobile
was not originally envisioned can have considerable
impact on the site and the overall appearance of the
historic setting. Typically, freestanding garages are
preferred to ones attached to the primary building on site.
Outbuildings should be placed so as to minimize their
visual impact.
Designs for such new outbuildings should reflect the style
and especially the roof line of the principal building or the
vernacular style common to such local structures of the
period. The use of materials traditional in appearance to
the period of the main historic structure such as wood
shingles, wood clapboard, brick, or board and batten is
recommended in new construction. The use of modern
materials that look traditional can be perfectly appropriate
here, such as cementious clapboard. Alternatively,
outbuildings may be designed as a subtle visual
counterpoint to the principal structure. For instance, the
design may call for board and batten on the outbuilding in
contrast to the formal clapboard of the principal building.
The design and type of material used in new and
replacement garage doors should match barn or carriage
house style doors with wood paneled as an alternative.
Again, fiberglass or other materials might be appropriate
given that they have a traditional appearance.
Guidelines for Walks, Roads and Parking Areas
The appropriateness of pedestrian walkways, driveways,
lanes and public road frontage as well as parking areas are
a consideration when evaluating the visual historical
setting.
Generally parking areas are without historic precedence. If
needed, off-street parking areas should be concealed from
the road wherever possible and preferably should be
located to the rear of the building. Parking areas in a front
yard are typically inappropriate. If the only accessible
entry for a public, cultural, or religious building is at the
The farm at Herrick’s Bridge still has the turnpike road bed between its barn and farmhouse
Barn on the Snyder Farm
supervisor, John Kiersted. Meetings and court were held at
Myndert Mynderse's tavern, a building that still stands just
two doors east of the present M&T bank. The map made of
the area in 1825 shows the Mynderse tavern and also the
farm lands all around the Main-Partition center and the
location of all houses standing at this time. Not surprisingly,
the names on these house lots and farmlands matched the
elected officials of the Town since its founding. This
clustering shows Saugerties as a society and economy firmly
centered in agriculture.
By the middle of this first decade an expansion was also
underway in the countryside. New hamlets had sprung up
and established ones were growing to support the heavy
wagon traffic of the mountain tanneries and of the central
New York agricultural products heading for the river. In
addition to the three Old Kings Highway-centered hamlets,
new ones included the hamlets at Shultis Corners, High
Woods, Veteran, Blue Mountain, Quarryville, and Brett's
Corners (the Saugerties side of Palenville).
The houses and shops built in these hamlets were an
indication of the first expansion of the newly established
Town. Their builders were from the farm families already
there and they used building techniques identical to those of
their ancestors; thus their designs tended to have the same
look and function as the stone houses they grew up in.
Rather than stone, however, they tended to use the less long
lasting kind of timber employed in their crop storage and
stock shelters found throughout the Kingston Commons.
This range of building practices can be seen on the Snyder
Farm, designated a Saugerties landmark on February 20,
2006. In addition to the stone house, currently still occupied
by a Snyder, its barns and outbuildings are preserved
applications of the earliest frame construction methods of the
town's farming community. An 1855 family history
Page number 18Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
primary elevation, it may be possible to locate limited
parking nearer that entrance, with appropriate screening
and/or paving surfaces. Other parking should be held away
from the primary elevation(s).
Wide curb cuts are not appropriate and parking areas
should be accessed by as narrow a driveway as is practical.
Paving materials which contrast with the adjoining
roadway are preferred so as to provide a visual break in
both texture and color. Asphalt may be acceptable as
appropriate materials for parking areas but the use of more
textured paving materials is encouraged especially for
larger parking areas. Textured paving materials include
gravel, brick pavers, granite paving blocks or cobblestone.
Other "green" paving might also be appropriate, including
pierced pavers that allow grass to grow through them.
Both public road and interior site sidewalks should use the
material of the locality, bluestone, in common 30" x 40"
square-cut slabs in keeping with the characteristic
neighborhood tradition. Curbs should be bluestone as well.
It might be acceptable to use bluestone-tinted concrete if
traditional materials are not appropriate due to location or
other considerations.
Parking which remains visible from the public right-of-way
should be suitably screened with landscaping. Landscaping
may also help reduce the apparent size of parking areas.
Sidewalks and roadways which fall in the public way
should be installed in a manner that is sympathetic to the
period of the property.
Guidelines for Signs
Signs are encouraged to reflect local historic precedence
but pretense to antiquity is discouraged where no such
traditions exist. Carved and painted wooden (or materials
that mimic wood) signs attached to wooden posts are
encouraged for business use. In most cases zoning
regulations will dictate the size and location of signs. In
cases where the Town commission and Village Review
Board set conflicting standards for signage, the stricter
standards prevail.
Outdoor advertising signs should reflect the historic
traditions of signs for the building and district. For rural
sites the historic character is better maintained if multiple
sign types and locations are used instead of a single larger
sign. The style of the sign should reflect the style of the
building to which it is attached or the prevalent style of the
neighborhood. Internally lit translucent plastic signs and
flashing signs are inappropriate.
Guidelines for Light Fixtures
Lighting fixtures should be appropriate
to the historic context of the building.
Outdoor lighting fixtures on residential
and commercial buildings must be
directed downward and at the object or
surface requiring illumination and
apply lighting only of sufficient
intensity to identify it without
reflection. Seasonal and festive
lighting should be appropriate to the
scale of the historic structure and
enhance its setting. Flashing and
scrolling electronic displays are
inappropriate to an historic setting.
published in 1905 documents generations of Snyder family
carpenters active throughout the entire "growth" period of
the town. The pure relationship of the bank-style vernacular
stone house of the landmark Snyder farm with its working
setting and structures made it a preservation priority as an
interpretive treasure of Saugerties' early town history.
Hamlet structures were commonly one rod deep by two
rods wide and a rod high at the peak. The rod (16 ½ feet)
was handy for all measurement as it was the standard used
for surveying in the then land-based culture. A house would
most likely have had an earthen floor basement below
ground level with walls built up of dry laid stone and packed
inside with clay-based daub. The basement would have
contained a cooking hearth. The chimney was typically local
brick and ran up the inside of the eastern most gable with the
entry centered on the eave side to the west of the chimney
side. The house would have been covered with unpainted
clapboards packed on the back side with the same clay daub,
and loose-lathe covered and smooth-plastered with a
lime/horsehair paste.
Wide frieze boards across the eave side and then up the
gables with, later, broad box gutters made to catch rain water
added, were the only stylistic elements aside from the simple
framing of the windows and door. These trim elements were
actually more for function than design since they sealed the
overhangs and other mating edges from pests. These early
details can be obscured or entirely replaced with later
materials and details, as seen in many examples with later
Greek Revival proportioned and style eave and cornice trim.
This was a common thing, as the owner would update their
house to stay in fashion or show off their taste and wealth.
Echoes of the simple origins of this style from the
founding decade of the Town continued in use for nearly half
a century. While many of the earliest stone houses went
through their additions upward and
outward these remnants of the
comfortable proportion of the
humble farm house kept this
traditional building form popular
in the face of the massive change
the agrarian founders would
experience in the second quarter of
the 19th Century.
Page number 19Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Restored mid 1800’s High Woods 3 bay H-bent constructed quarryman’s cottage
Page number 20Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The Jeremiah Russell house with street corner Greek revival pedimented gable facing Ulster Avenueand Federal eave side entry facing Market Street has Italianate additions, all showing
the influences of the entire growth period of Saugerties
GUIDELINES FOR THE SAUGERTIES LIGHTHOUSE MODEL
Guidelines for Walls
During the Federal period (1790 to 1830) and the Greek
Revival period (1830 to 1850) multi-storied brick and
frame structures were introduced to the local building
vocabulary. The majority of surviving examples are found
in the immediate village area and along major travel
routes. Period indicators such as symmetry of wall
openings, gable exposure to road front and ornate
entryways centered or to one side should be retained with
these original forms openly visible and in good repair.
Window and door openings should not be resized or filled.
The original locations and sizes of window and door
openings should not be covered by porches unless one is
retained as an addition from an historic era. Original
porches are found on few Federal and Greek Revival
houses in Saugerties as they were not typical of that period.
Frame houses of this period used clapboard as the siding
material. See guideline on page 11 for maintenance and
restoration of early original clapboard materials.
Shingle siding is inappropriate for period
restorations of Saugerties' pre-1890's
housing stock. Cross-cut clear pine
clapboards in up to 16 foot lengths are
the most authentic materials if they can
be obtained, although for new
construction or entire replacement, new
cementious clapboard materials can be
appropriate.
The style of the majority of post
industrialization houses in Saugerties is
a blend of Greek Revival and early
Italianate. Frame houses from this
period tend to have heavy geometric elements at wall edges
and narrow exposures of clapboard material.
Frame structures can often have a history of being re-sided
in the later decades of the 19th century. In Saugerties the
Foundation of Saugerties' 19th century
growth period
he Colonial Period in Saugerties ended
when in 1824 Henry Barclay started Tdeveloping water powered milling
industries where the Esopus Creek meets the
Hudson River. Saugerties greatest inventory
of structures meriting preservation are from
this early Industrial Revolution-based
growth period. Factory workers, dock
workers, masons, merchants, civil
engineers, teamsters and assorted craftsmen
arrived in large numbers, mostly from
Ireland and England. The large and sudden
population growth provided the impetus for a
housing boom which led to the incorporation of the Village
of Saugerties in 1831. This growth also had a domino effect
on the surrounding countryside. Hamlets began to prosper as
Village demand for fuel supplies, agricultural products, and
other merchandise produced in the rural areas increased.
Saugerties' explosive development coincided with one
that New York City was experiencing as a result of the
opening of the Erie Canal. The Hudson River instantly
became the center of American commerce. The heirs of
Robert Livingston -- who once had monopoly rights to steam
transport on the Hudson -- owned most of the land in the
present village area and all of the mill sites on the Esopus
Creek's falls. Henry Barclay's purchase of all the land along
the south edge of the Esopus and his subsequent partnership
with Robert L. Livingston, made it possible to dam the
creek, lay out a water works and mill sites, and plan the lots
of a village many times the size of the small crossroads
hamlet diagramed in John Kiersted's 1825 map.
Saugerties rapidly became known as a
hotbed of inventiveness and a showcase of
progressive industry. Barclay, in 1827, after
creating the most sophisticated water power
distribution system of its day, imported the
first machine to produce roll to roll paper to
be installed in America. A young Moses Y.
Beach, who had invented a process for
preparing material for making paper, came
to Saugerties to work with Barclay. He set
up his own machine as well as Barclay's The George Taylor House is the oldest
frame house in the Saugerties VillageNational Register Historic Business District
remaining
predominant siding in use was "novelty" or
"German" boards that had the same 3 ½ inch
exposure as the original, functioned as ship-
lap with a coved top face of the board to lap
under the board above. Either beveled
clapboard or these period replacement sidings
are appropriate for restoration work as long
as it reflects the siding removed. It is not
typically appropriate to use multiple types on
the same wall but is acceptable for different
types to be used on non adjacent walls. The
scale of the siding material must always allow
the edge of window and door frames and their
hoods to dominate.
If it is necessary to patch or replace boards,
such work should be completed with materials
of the same type as predominates on the wall.
Surfaces should never be covered with new
materials such as vinyl, aluminum, dryvit, T-
111, etc. When removing non-historic siding
from wood buildings to expose historic siding
care should be taken to plan for the repair of
the original material after the non-historic
siding is removed. Wood surfaces that are
deteriorated should never be painted or
otherwise covered without first identifying and
treating the causes of any deterioration. All
previously-painted wood surfaces should be
scraped, sanded, and cleaned of debris prior
to painting. New wood should be back-primed
(painting the surfaces which are not to be
visible) prior to installation. Deteriorated
wood should be repaired using epoxy wood
repair products or "dutchmen" whenever
possible.
If paint failure is evident at historic clapboards,
always identify and treat the source of the
problem before beginning a painting project. It
might be caused by moisture inappropriately
entering the wall from a roof or gutter leak or
excess humidity from an interior space such as
a bath or kitchen. These situations should be
addressed, or paint failure will occur again. All
surfaces should be dry and properly prepared prior to
painting. Careful scraping and hand-sanding will assure
that the surfaces are free of loose paint and other
materials. Also it is extremely important to remove all dust
or dirt from the surface as this will impact proper paint
adhesion.. Caulk all joints carefully; caulking not only
provides for a more uniform painted surface but can also
seal leaks and create a more energy efficient building.
Prime all surfaces prior to painting; surfaces of new wood
that will not be exposed should be "back-primed" prior to
installation in order to assure maximum durability. Never
remove paint from wood wall surfaces by abrasive
methods. Sandblasting will damage the wood irreparably
and water-blasting subjects the surface to an unusually
high volume of moisture and can cause long term moisture
infiltration problems. Ideally, oil-based paint should be
imported 60 inch Fourdrinier papermaking
machine, thus putting the paper mill into
production by 1828. A second 62 inch
Fourdrinier was imported in 1829 making
Saugerties not just the only place in America
where paper was machine-made, but the
largest producer of paper in America.
Moses Y. Beach left in 1834 to co-found
the New York Sun and later the Associated
Press. Beach Street is where his house still
stands -- right up the street from the firehouse
of the fire company he helped form in 1833.
These structures are both in the local Overlay
Historic Industrial District of the Village of
Saugerties.
The focal point of this overlay district is
the building currently occupied by the
Knights of Columbus fraternal organization
at the corner of Burt and Barclay Streets. This
1825 building was among the first structures
to go up after Henry Barclay's arrival. Its
purpose was to house guests in comfort.
These guests were the technicians, engineers,
businessmen and investors that came as a
result of Barclay's water power developments
and innovative processing technology. The
pattern of hospitality represented by this
building inaugurated a tradition that would be
emulated by the hotels of Saugerties and be
recognized as one of Saugerties' greatest
attributes by the end of the century.
In the mid-1830's this historic industrial overlay district
sat at the center of Barclay's planned panorama: river and
Page number 21 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
1875 photo of pre 1840 painting ofthe house of Henry Barclay (demolished 1855)
Current photo of the John Kearny housebuilt at the same time as the Barclay house
The Lead Mill orginally built prior to 1830 byan Eldridge as agent to Robert L. Livingston
for whale oil processing
The Iron Mill in an 1831 colored engravingused for promotion to attract investment
in other water power sites
The size of the Paper Mill by the 1880’s
applied over oil based paint, and latex over latex; oil over
latex will fail and should not be used. Clear finishes and
stains are not typically appropriate for historic buildings.
Pressure-treated wood is recommended only for non-visible
locations (porch joists, etc.); if pressure-treated wood has
been used for a project, it should be painted using
appropriate colors and following the manufacturer's
recommendations. Take all necessary precautions relative
to lead paint in accordance with state and local
regulations.
Property owners are urged to use historically appropriate
paint colors and to place the colors on the building (lights
and darks) as they would have been placed historically.
Sources of information on appropriate paint color selection
and placement are available from the Town Historic
Preservation Commission and Village Historic Review
Board.
Brick is a dominant material of the early industrial period
in Saugerties' Village area. Brick of this period is that of
the "unstamped" type (irregular pre-factory production
common brick). Brick of a size, shape, texture and color
matching the original made for the same exterior
placement as the original, are appropriate for repair or
replacement. Period bricks from the same structure should
be reused.
Repointing of early brick must never be done with mortars
that cure harder than the brick. This will compress the face
mountain views, churches and stylish homes on a street grid
symbolizing community stability, all looking down on an
industrial complex that guaranteed financial rewards for
anyone willing to partake.
Two other luminaries that shared this earliest vision for
Saugerties' future were John Simmons and Charles Ripley.
They were developers of two other industrial processes of
the early Industrial Revolution that was introduced to
America for the first time in Saugerties.
John Simmons brought the "puddling" process for
purifying iron to Saugerties, presaging the steel industry. The
strength and durability of Saugerties' bar and plate from
Simmons process and rolling technology made the
Saugerties' Ulster Iron Works a prototype for all advanced
metal processing businesses by the 1840's. John and his
brother Edward and their families all arrived
from England during the half decade after 1826
and remained influential members of the
community for the rest of the century.
Charles Ripley was the inventor of
processes for making white lead used for paint
and putty. His lead mill was the only mill on
the north side of the Esopus and was housed in
Page number 22Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Fluted Pilasters
Louvered shutters
6 over 6 windows
Revealed trim
Speared picketsMolded and finial-capped square posts
Jeremiah Russell House
Tie-back irons
Boxed dentils
A perfect specimen of a preserved early 19th century residence Classic pedimented gable
4 inch reveal painted clapboard siding
Flush Architrave surround
Trimmed Frieze board surround
Keystone fluted elliptical pediment fan vent
Classic horizontal gable cornice with steps
Classic raking cornice with stepped molding
Egg and dart transition to raking frieze board trim
1. Historic mortars were often softer because of their high lime content and lack of Portland cement. New mortar should be soft enough to prevent damage to historic masonry materials. Work will be appropriate providing it occurs only where mortar is missing or deteriorated. Because mortar saws and grinders can damage historic brick or stone, mortar shall be removed only with hand-held, non-power tools. New mortar should match the original in color, texture, tooling, size and profile of joint. The following mortar mix is recommended for 19th century construction:1 part white Portland cement3 parts Type S hydrated lime6 parts sand with no admixturesFor 20th century construction, slightly harder mortars may be appropriate and the following mix should be considered.1 part white Portland cement1 part Type S hydrated lime6 parts sand with no admixtures2. When repointing at parapets, at grade, or other areas exposed to harsh weathering conditions, it may be appropriate to use a more durable new mortar. Please note that this mix should not be used at other locations. In addition, mortar saws should not be used as they can damage historic brick or stone. The following mix is recommended:2 parts white Portland cement3 parts Type S hydrated lime6 parts sand with no admixtures3. Harsh chemical or high-pressure washing can damage the protective outer coating of historic masonry. Cleaning should remove surface dirt using the gentlest methods possible. Work will be appropriate providing only non-ionic neutral pH detergents (not chemicals), non-metallic brushes or scrapers, and water pressure no greater than 150 pounds per square inch (psi).4. Moisture trapped under inappropriate coatings can cause excessive masonry damage in freeze-thaw cycles. These coatings prevent the natural passage of moisture from within the wall and aggravate most existing moisture problems. Work will be appropriate providing acrylic sealers, cementitious paints and other nonbreathable coatings are not applied to historic masonry surfaces.(From the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation, State Historic Preservation Office)
General Guidelines for Treatment of Historic Masonry
Profiles of joints foundin typical early brick walls
of the wall causing flaking and decomposition. See below
for appropriate mortar mixes.
Never pressure-clean masonry buildings with deteriorated
mortar joints. This will allow water to penetrate the wall
during the cleaning process. Repoint joints prior to
pressure cleaning. Masonry cleaning should never take
place when the possibility for freezing weather exists.
Masonry cleaning should be undertaken when temperatures
will be upwards of 50 degrees for at least 3 days after
cleaning.
For routine masonry repair and maintenance see page 11.
Guidelines for Foundations
For every stone house in Saugerties there are hundreds of
frame or brick houses with stone basement walls laid up to
the same quality standard as the fully stone house. Of these,
many retain full walk-in basement levels as a design
feature. These foundation walls are as important to
Saugerties' architectural heritage as their full stone house
wall counterparts and should be kept visible and in good
repair to show off their texture and composition.
Early development of local sources of lime allowed lime
mortars to be used for making stone foundations weather
tight. A thick whitewash of lime mortar was traditionally
applied at normal maintenance intervals as a sacrificial
coating. This was most important on a stone foundation
wall close to ground moisture. A thick coating of lime
mortar tinted a color is commonly found on both high stone
and brick foundation walls. This is still the best way to
prevent dampness from penetrating into the basement and
is the most appropriate maintenance procedure.
Traditionally, a new coat was not necessary until the old
has weathered away. The mottled look of rough stone
surfacing from the fading coating is as acceptable for an
accurate period look of a house as a newly coated surface.
Saugerties' foundations progressed from native limestone to
bluestone and to stone topped with brick and all brick. In
the design of houses following the hillside lots of the
village, high foundation walls and/or raised basement
stories were common. Local building tradition in the
countryside often had a preference for use of building sites
dug into banks which often had stonework exposures. In
contemporary construction large exposed areas of concrete
foundation are considered appropriate when they emulate
this banked house look.
Guidelines for Chimneys
Chimneys should never be removed from, have their
location moved, or be newly added to, period structures.
They are an historical design feature. Chimneys of the
majority of the nineteenth century are red brick with
straight, undecorated courses that terminate with a single
step outward. Chimneys should be maintained in their
original height, form and design. If a chimney is
reconstructed, it should match the period chimneys of the
house in style and material where it is exposed above the
roof line. Non-masonry chimney stacks should not be used.
House styles that traditionally did not have external
chimney walls should avoid these. The removal of
inappropriate metal and cinder block external chimneys
a massive stone building built by
Robert L. Livingston prior to
1830. Ripley set up lead
manufacturing there in 1833,
however, operations ceased at the
stone mill before the Civil War
but continued up the Esopus at
Glenerie falls on the southern
bounds of the Town. A large
community with school and
church grew up around the lead
manufacturing business there. No
sign of that community or the mill
remains today.
On the ledge above the stone
mill Robert L. Livingston built a
large estate house around 1832,
also of stone, for his daughter
Adelaide Clarkson. The
Clarkson's stay was but a short
two years because the village
growth had overtaken the
suitability of this location as an
estate. However, the legacy that
survived was that all the level area at the base of Partition
Street and the entire beach front along the north side of
Barclay's Pond continued to be known as the Clarkson
Grounds well into the twentieth century.
The entry for the Clarkson estate was from Dock
Street and the cobblestones of the drive to the
house were still there until the present
development on the property (2011). The
Clarkson stone house was preserved intact as
the office of the Cantine Mill until it
burned with the mill in 1978. Ripley
Street leads to the site where the house
stood.
The Main-Partition area
continued to retain its
Page number 23 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
1830 period classic cornice return
Edge box bevel
Edge box soffit
Return soffit
Fly soffit
Return facia
Rake edgemolding
Rake edgecrown
Fly facia
Rake edgereturn molding
Frieze board return
Frieze molding
Rake friezemolding
Rake frieze
Low reliefdentil brackets
Edge box faciaCornice edge crown
Decorative Federal fan window added whenKiersted House frame gables enclosed in stone
Cross gable roof with modified mansardtransition of the Saugerties Lighthouse’s design
Unfortunate inappropriate chimneys on otherwiseimportant specimen of Revival/Italianate mix
20th century stone work
18th century stone work
prominence as the nucleus of commerce in Saugerties
mainly because it was the location of the store of Jeremiah
Russell, the dominant merchant of the period, and the
terminus of his 1828 Woodstock and Saugerties Turnpike.
Most of the early activity and expanding population were
around the mills. That was separated from this business
district by the dammed Esopus Creek and broad pond that
powered the mills. In 1831 Henry Barclay had a bridge built
across the Esopus to support real estate
interests on the other side that washed
away and was replaced in 1840
by the longest single span Burr
arch bridge in New York.
In the process of building the
1831 bridge another industry
and population explosion was
sparked. Supplying the building
material for the bridge supports
started the bluestone industry.
The builder of these support
structures, Silas Brainard, quarried
stone for this construction and
afterward purchased the land the
material came from. Brainard then
began to sell the bluestone for
sidewalk flagging and it became
known as North River Bluestone.
Within the next quarter century
bluestone quarries spread
throughout Saugerties and
all along the base of the
Catskill Mountains into
Pennsylvania. After the
Civil War, supplying
bluestone for sidewalks
became a multimillion
dollar industry in
Saugerties. The Jeremiah
Russell Turnpike House
marks the location of
Brainard's first commercial
Page number 24Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
previously placed on houses of architectural significance is
highly encouraged.
Guidelines for Roof Form
Typically early nineteenth century houses were built with a
relatively shallow 5 on 12 pitch with the gable at the entry
side in the Greek revival style. This progressed toward
steeper pitches in mid-century when ell and tee-plan side
gables came into style. The 8 to 10 on 12 pitch of the roof
on the many colonial era side gable stone houses that had
full scale cross dormer additions added to put the gable
over the entry way locally set this trend. The steeper pitch
front gabled roof continued as a design factor even after
the Italianate style added its characteristic shallow and flat
roof forms to local home styling. Saugerties homes many
times added the Italianate cornice bracket to its roof eaves
and gable rakes.
An understanding of the design logic of the period should
support any decision on appropriate care of the roof and its
related elements on historically significant houses. The
design of eaves at gable and side faces had the functional
purpose of maximizing the collection of rainwater for
domestic use the larger surface areas of the steeper roof
form made available. In general, box guttered cornices
ornamented with moldings and scrolled Italianate brackets
transitioning to the wall via broad frieze boards is
appropriate for the roof edge for this broadly recognized
architectural feature in Saugerties. These features should
never be removed and it is recommended that those that
have been altered restore their lost roof edge features if
historic documentation of the features exist.
Guidelines for Roofing
Roofing materials have changed dramatically over the life
span of the average historically significant Saugerties
home. Typically roofs are re-shingled every 20 years with
current materials, 30 to 50 years with historic materials,
and with slate and metal roofs associated with much longer
periods of use, existing materials are often are found to be
original. roofing materials can be very character defining,
and should be replaced in kind it at all possible or at least
in appearance. There are some excellent replacement
materials on the market that have the appearance of
historic materials at either a lesser material or installation
cost . Since the roof is the first line of defense for a house,
maintenance of the roof surface is the highest priority task
of the conscientious homeowner.
For new buildings, care should be made to use materials
having the appearance of the traditional materials
characteristic to the neighborhood.
Guidelines for Dormers
Multiple gabled dormers added with the advent of the
Federal style and shed roof dormers added as part of the as
Dutch Colonial revival elements are common in Saugerties.
Many stone houses in Saugerties that did not have walls
raised in Federal period restructuring had broad cross
gable fronts added essentially making a complete second
floor.
The look of the heavily trimmed, steep pitched, broad roof
defines the form of the industrial period domestic
Formal window linels and Greek Revival entryof a West Saugerties hamlet house
Unique stone framing on side lightsof Jeremiah Russell Turnpike house
Multi-family Italianate row houseof the post-Civil War village expansion
architecture of Saugerties. These homes did not historically
have turrets, towers, cupolas or dormers but used the clean
geometry of their unbroken roof surfaces to show style.
Dormers and cupolas are found on the few earlier
Georgian and Federal-styled houses and in later additions
to update older colonial period houses in the later part of
the century. These are appropriate in that they reference a
Federal period style and are markers of changes made in
the historic Colonial Revival era. Their materials and
stylistic details, especially the Federal fan windows are
highly visible architectural elements that should be
retained and maintained.
In general both gable and shed dormers may be an
appropriate way to add existing attic space, however the
addition of dormers is discouraged on the front face of the
house.
Dormers are, however, a highly appropriate way to reduce
the apparent scale of new construction. As such they should
be clearly subordinate to the primary roof form and used
only on appropriately pitched roofs. Flush dormers that are
continuous with a wall below are discouraged. All dormers
should be windowed to echo the predominant patterns of
the wall below.
Skylights, if needed, should only be placed on parts of the
house not visible from the street.
Guidelines for Gutters and Downspouts
Up until the turn of the century, water drainage systems
usually consisted of diversionary rooftop devices built into
the roof structure. Early 19th century additions of box
gutters were a common feature of hamlet and village
houses and the practical application of rainwater
collection remained a factor of roof design in the village of
Saugerties until the advent of a public water supply in the
1890's.
In houses of the entire 19th century roof rainwater and
even dew run off was always directed to internal cisterns.
There was little need to be concerned with protecting
exterior walls from roof run off. Today, care must be taken
to keep walls free from this source of concentrations of
excessive moisture. Discharge areas for down spouts
should be a minimum of six feet from a foundation wall.
Compact soils and grass should slope away from the
foundation and extend to a point lower then the basement
floor level if possible. If not possible, a sump or catch basin
to make a low point is an acceptable alternative.
Attached metal gutters that are appropriate for most
structures are the half round style. The square metal form
most commonly used today was introduced in the 1950's
and is most appropriately used on contemporary homes or
as a replacement for similarly styled wood gutters. Green
and brown colors are appropriate.
Guidelines for Trim & Ornamentation
The trim and ornamentation of a building play an
important role in defining its character. Historic houses
often have purely decorative applied trim that may be found
on windows, doors, porch columns, and eaves.
This trim and ornament can be applied or it can be integral
to the structure. For instance, barge boards are applied
bluestone quarry and was designated a landmark of the Town
of Saugerties on September 18th, 2006.
For the first two decades following the Town's formation,
Saugerties' rugged land of bluestone ledges and outcrops was
considered low in value. With the commercialization of
bluestone the availability of this land for speculative
quarrying quickly attracted an influx of prospectors.
Beginning in 1833 Jeremiah Russell, Saugerties' most
successful merchant and
developer of the Woodstock and
Saugerties Turnpike, entered the
personal banking business. He
began purchasing for lease and
also financing mortgages on the
most promising land for
quarrying; his clients were, for
the most part, recently arrived
Irish immigrants. As a result,
within a couple of years, the
hamlets around the most
productive quarries began to have
populations that would make the
numbers in the countryside
exceed those of the new village.
Jeremiah Russell served as Town
Supervisor for many terms and was elected to State and
National office, serving in the New York State Legislature
in 1842 and in the twenty-eighth Congress of the United
States.
Traffic from both the
increasing population in
the village area and from
the growing population in
the countryside coming to
do their shopping in its
business district placed a
proportionate demand on
the new village's
infrastructure. A feel for
the pattern of expansion
Page number 25 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The bracketed cornice with broad frieze boardsfollowing the rake of the gable is a typical featureof the post Civil War Italianate style of Saugerties
decoration while window hoods are an actual support
component of the wall. Some serve both purposes. Soffit
brackets are decorative but they are actually both
supporting eaves and transferring compression from the
soffit to the frieze board to brace the wall. Removal of the
brackets removes a highly significant period identifier from
the building and can compromise the structural integrity of
the building; removal of the barge board is removing a
highly significant period identifier from the building. Both
are inappropriate treatments.
The range of window lintels alone in its stone, brick and
frame houses tells Saugerties' history. The axed bluestone
lintels in the pre-1800 brick Cockburn house presage the
bluestone industry. The corbeled brick headers of the
Beach house recall the structuring of the first mills while
the precise arches of The Mill repeat the sturdy pattern of a
thousand window openings ubiquitous in the town and
village. The paired protruding quoined arches of the
lighthouse windows and doors pretend in brick to be the
iron hoods of Saugerties' fashionable townhouses.
All of this original existing trim and ornament should be
preserved or repaired in keeping with the original design in
order to preserve Saugerties' historic identity. Epoxy based
wood restoration products can repair damaged or rotted
wood quite nicely. Replacement of lost trim and ornament
is encouraged. Replacement should match the most
commonly found preserved examples of other homes from
the same period in the same neighborhood. The
addition of trim and ornamentation for which no
historic precedence exists is inappropriate and
detrimental to the community standard. Trim and
ornamentation on additions should display the
characteristic use of trim and ornamentation found on
the main house. In many instances this may be done in
a more simplified fashion than the main structure.
Trim on new buildings should be appropriate to the
neighborhood. Highly elaborate ornamentation is
usually inappropriate for new construction.
Guidelines for Windows and Doorways
A generalized discussion of historically correct window and
door forms and guidelines for repair and appropriate
replacement of doors, windows and shutters is found on
pages 14 and 15. Guidelines for window and door
components of historically significant structures are
essentially the same across all architectural periods
represented in Saugerties but are more specifically relevant
to houses and commercial properties of Saugerties' major
growth period in the middle quarters of the 19th century.
Later, historic changes to earlier structures that can be
documented with regard to stylistic updates of door and
window elements that occurred during this growth period
are appropriate to retain as references to the changing
cultural environment over this industrialization period. In
restoration projects it is recommended that obviously
inappropriate changes made to historically significant
structures during periods later than this period of influence
be replaced using, as much as possible, period photos and
appropriate period examples of the surrounding
neighborhood as references.
of services can be found in the earliest minutes of the Village
government after incorporation in 1831. In its first five years
of existence decisions on crosswalks around Market and
Main Streets and widening of access and sidewalks along
Main and Partition Streets show the pedestrian focus of a
vibrant and highly commercialized Main-Partition business
district well before 1840. The record specifies an early
application of "flagging" for crosswalks and sidewalks and
even a dimensional standard for curbstones and hitching
posts.
In this same period roads and
streets were laid out on a
route roughly from Cross
Street to West Bridge Street
to relieve the business
district of traffic congestion
which occurred once
the first bridge was
operative after 1832.
By the 1850's a
commercial map of the
village shows the
Main-Partition corridor fully developed after a decade of
substantial investment in building.
Page number 26Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Typical Greek Revival/Italianate cross styleof the Saugerties post Civil War growth period
Classic Italianate residencial complex of high Saugerties growth periodwithout cross Greek revival features of the earlier common Saugerties style
The lower end of West Bridge Street is typical of earliest development of plannedresidential streetscapes in the village of Saugerties that began in the early 1830’s
The opening framework of doors and windows, whether
plain or decorative, defines original architectural
character and must be retained as elements of a buildings
period integrity. Likewise, the proportional balance of the
window and door components within their framework must
be retained for each complete unit to work within the full
architectural integrity of the building.
Original doors and windows can rarely be replaced. Their
materials were originally chosen for durability and often
reflect the 150 to 200 years of the age of the building they
occupy. Period sashes and window frames were designed
for maintenance. Even complete restoration of a period
window is more economical than replacement with a
product of inferior materials. It is never appropriate to use
factory-made replace windows or doors in any house built
before factory production of window and door components
began in the second quarter of the 20th century.
Contemporary standards for energy efficiency generally
give a high grade to the materials and structures of
century-old sashes and window boxes based on their mass
and sealing characteristics. The traditional storm window,
especially when upgraded with low-e glass, prevents more
air infiltration with greater thermal retention than is
typically possible in a factory-made replacement window.
Therefore, it is never appropriate to replace historically
original windows and traditional weatherization techniques
for reasons of greater economy or energy efficiency.
Work to fanlights, sidelights, pilasters, entablatures,
columns, as well as the window sashes and doors these
woodworking features frame involves the skill of the
professional woodworker. While it is not the place of the
Commission or Board to make recommendations of those
that best perform these skills it is highly appropriate for
those that have employed these professionals to their
satisfaction to make such recommendations. Always ask for
and confirm references before having any period
woodworking maintenance, repair or restoration done on a
period house. Also, always consider that a proper paint job
will require some woodworking repair so also confirm the
painter's references relative to preservation experience.
Guidelines for Entranceways and Porches
As the average house grew to two and a half floors and
windows were enlarged, houses almost universally grew
bay windows and sitting porches, in keeping with the
fashions and styles of the time. The characteristic bay
window placed to the side of the house replaced light
diminished by the broad roof of the porch shading the front-
facing windows. The stylistic elements of porch and bay
window migrated outward from the village side street to the
countryside farmhouse. As the boarding house economy
developed in the later decades of the 19th century porches
became dominant features of even the most simple of house
designs and verandas rising to three and four floors
became the identifying feature of both the rural guest house
and village hotel.
Porches on historic buildings are often the dominant
element of the façade. When they were constructed their
form, details, and decorative elements were often intended
to complement or update the style of the building so
Preservation of Saugerties' 19th century
growth period
ithin a short 20 years, from 1830 To 1850,
Saugerties had set the pace for a building Wboom. The prosperous upper class built
sophisticated homes in the styles of the era; the healthy
middle class constructed more traditional styles of sturdy
shops and houses; and, the
workers established
themselves in modest
housing. More massive
structures such as churches of
all denominations and mills
were built and, earthwork
projects such as dams,
raceways, bridges, docks, and
a lighthouse in mid-river
made permanent changes to
Saugerties and its landscape.
Up until the post-WWII
building boom the houses
built during this mid 19th
century period represented
the majority of the
housing stock in
Saugerties.
The hamlets and
roadsides of this period
were dotted with many
small houses of a form and
appearance now referred to
as the Quarryman's
Cottage. In their classic,
unaltered condition the vast majority
of these houses give a great deal of
historic texture to village
streetscapes. These quarrymen and
factory worker homes have a very
special character and style which is
Page number 27 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Farmhouse on pre-quarrying farmlandat the head of Hummelville Road
Italianate villa in once-expansive farmland south of village
Brick Greek Revival/Federal-influencehomestead main house off Old Stage Road
Rare Greek Revival store with Dutch cross coursebrick laid on bluestone water table band
maintenance and good repair of the porch is central to
the overall preservation of the house.
Porches consist of decks, steps, balustrades, columns,
entablatures, and roofs and they were often the most
embellished architectural elements of a house.
It is inappropriate to remove existing porches because
doing so would strip the building's primary elevation of
its primary characteristics. The reconstruction of a lost
porch is strongly encouraged if its appearance can be
discerned from historic and/or remaining physical
documentation. If it is known that a porch once existed,
but conclusive documentation of it is not discoverable, it
may be appropriate to construction a proch reflecting the
historic in form, but not detail. This would return a
building to an appropriate appearance without "faking"
historic detail.
When porches were not original to the earliest houses, but
added during the 19th century, they are now part of the
history of the structure and should not be removed simply
because they reflect a later style. However, the replacement
of original elements or features appropriate to the style and
age of a building is normally encouraged, when those
features have been replaced with clearly unsuitable
substitutes.
Porches remain one of the most visible house elements
and play a significant role in its appearance and that of
the streetscape. They can act as an extension of a home
providing a welcoming feeling for visitors.
Unfortunately porches today are often one of the most
altered components of a building frequently because
they are not properly maintained or they are viewed as
potentially enclosable space. Because of the importance
porches play in the perception of historic buildings and
streetscapes, original materials and details should be
preserved as long as possible. Typically areas covered by a
porch roof tend to require less maintenance; however,
steps, railings, and roofs are usually exposed to the
weather and might require additional maintenance. One of
the best ways to preserve wood porch features is regular
painting. If a component is deteriorating, repair or
replacement in kind is recommended as part of the porch's
regular maintenance. There are very well designed and
proportioned porch materials in modern, decay resistant
materials now on the market. These would be appropriate
for new construction such as replacing a missing porch, or
replacing a highly deteriorated porch in entirety.
Porches were meant to be open exterior spaces. Enclosing
a front porch is a radical change to the building and its
visual perception from the streetscape. Enclosing an
existing porch so as to destroy its intended appearance is
generally inappropriate and thus strongly discouraged.
See page 16 for additional guidelines on porch enclosure.
It is important that documentation be found when replacing
a missing porch. This can be physical evidence that a porch
was present or documentation that shows or describes a
porch. Look for shadows on the wall or trim from roofs,
posts or railings. Look for evidence of nailing patterns on
siding or repairs to masonry walls. Look for historic photos
generally identified by low pitched side-gabled roofs with
broad cornices, often with half windows facing front, though
some in the village have gable fronts.
The earliest of these houses are exemplified by the
George Taylor house on Partition Street in the village and the
Bristol Plat house in Malden. The purest examples of the
Quarryman's Cottage are found in the High Woods hamlet --
along the Glasco Turnpike and down Fite Road opposite
Opus 40. They were built
in the period memorialized
and well documented by
Harvey Fite in his
Quarryman's Museum
collection at Opus 40. Opus
40 was designated a
landmark of the Town of
Saugerties on September
26th, 2006.
The mansion houses of
the wealthy built during this
period were completely the
opposite from the
quarryman's cottage. These
structures were built in the
best settings, that is, where
there were the views so
treasured by the Hudson
River School painters. Few
of these mansions survived the curse of their unique sites --
as the original large houses were so often razed and even
larger, newer styled ones were put up in their place. The
exceptions that survive show that they did in fact influence
the look of the "updated" Saugerties quarryman's cottages,
and include the Field House on Lighthouse Drive, the Beach
House on Beckley Street, Trinity Church, what is now the
Page number 28Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Porches, verandas and sunrooms nested into historical viewshed locationin Saugerties’ Historic Industrial zoning overlay district in view from harbor
(Beach House) Informational texton descriptive illustration
The Field House is an 1830’s expansion of an 18thcentury stone house viewed from Saugerties’ Hudson shore
Constructed at the same time as the first mills in thelate 1820’s, this Greek revival style house has a
colonnaded porch overlooking the Hudson River.
or drawings. Compare porches on neighboring buildings of
similar type, design, style and date of construction. Look in
attics, basements, garage or storage areas for original
components. Look for evidence of former porch piers or
foundations in landscape. Ask long-term neighbors or prior
residents if they remember a porch on the house.
Guidelines for Fire Exits and Handicapped Access
Adaptive Reuse of historic structures for commercial
applications or for multiple living spaces requires
compliance to safety codes and accessibility laws. Entries
and access points related to the conditions of such use
should not detract from public's view of the architecturally
significant features of the building. The most appropriate
positioning of handicap access ramps is where the new
features do not impact the primary elevation(s) of the
structure. The appropriate position for fire exits and
separate second floor entries is to the rear away from
primary elevations. Where access ramps must be added to
visible sides of a historic structure, they should be made as
discrete as possible by reflecting characteristic details of
the main building. Often such ramps can be constructed as
landscape terraces to further mitigate the visual impact on
the architectural massing of the main structure. Such
features should reflect the period and general streetscape of
the neighborhood.
In all additions to historic structures that provide for a
separate living space, plans should provide an interior exit
appropriately positioned for present or future handicap
access that conforms to the general guidelines for the
historic property.
Guidelines for Decks and Terraces
Outdoor leisure activities centered on porches, verandas
and balconies have precedence for historic preservation
and new construction because Saugerties' growth period in
the 19th century overlapped the growth of the Hudson
River School of painting's focus on the same scenery that is
available throughout Saugerties. Because of this
precedence there were few designs and locations of
architecturally significant houses that are not today
endowed with sufficient outdoor gathering facilities for
any contemporary need. At the end of this period houses
were often surrounded on all sides with verandas,
particularly those built at locations with distinctly different
views in all directions. This concept of architectural
function is encouraged for continuing the tradition of a
house's conspicuous display of an appreciation for the
natural environment.
If traditional outdoor entertaining features are found to
have been removed from the publically visible facade of the
house it is highly appropriate to rebuild them in a style
matching that of what is missing. More contemporary decks
added to homes with historically significant styles should
be placed at the rear with any part that could be visually
related to the period structure from the front screened by
hedges or appropriate trellising.
In general, residential terraces and patios that are at grade
are appropriate landscaping elements. Deck additions
should be limited to the first floor and should be located
Knights of Columbus hall, the John Kearny house and the
Jeremiah Russell house. These are all classic examples of the
Greek Revival style.
Prior to 1824 and before Barclay's arrival, nearly
everything in Saugerties was constructed of either frame or
stone. Barclay, the brick structure of his mills, and skilled
masons changed that. Brick structures that can be dated to
the last half of the 1820's are: the 1827 Reformed Church on
Livingston Street, the
Lutheran Church on the
Turnpike, and the Russell
and McCarthy
store (Village
Apothecary) on
Market Street. As
the decade of the
20's drew to an
end, town houses,
multi-residence houses and the first stores of brick began to
appear along Main Street. Nearly all of these show their
early style as side gabled, two story designs.
Some rare
brick structures of
an earlier date, but
difficult to
confirm, include
the Cockburn
mansion house
referenced as
existing in an
1813 will and
thought to have
been built before
the Revolution.
There is also documentation of a brick store built in Malden
in 1814. Considering that the brick courses are laid in the
Dutch style on the Russell
and McCarthy store on
Page number 29 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
1850’s Greek Revival influenced Blue Mountain Road farmhousewith 1890’s Queen Anne style wrapping porch and balcony
Verandas of the 1870’s G. W. Washburn farmhouse in a famous1967 Holiday Magazine photo of the Saugerties artists colony, Group 212
Classic wrapped Victorian porch onItalianate-featured cross form Kaatsbaan farm house
out of public view. Any deck being considered
should be visually integrated with the main
building. Partial roof coverings as well as railing
design can help with the visual integration of the
deck and main building. Framed latticework
around the under deck area will help tie the deck
to the building as well as give visual support.
Guidelines for Fences and Landscape Walls
The 19th century was a period in which great
value was placed in ownership of the land and its
resources. Early private property delineations
made up of wall, fence and ditch lines with both public and
private road courses following them are still evident in the
rural landscape. As landmarks these have a special
significance to Saugerties. Often they can be used to locate
age old activities and dwellings referenced in ancient
surveys, deeds and contracts and are the only physical
evidence remaining of the earliest uses and ownership of
the land. An appreciation of our cultural heritage requires
that these sentinels of the past remain blended naturally
into the landscape. It is inappropriate to bury, excavate,
divert or rebuild stone walls, drainage ditches and related
access road surfaces.
Where stone walls and boundary fences are site
enhancements built during the same period as a dwelling of
period significance, their careful maintenance as straight,
well painted and structurally intact historical assets is
strongly recommended. During the majority of the 19th
century in Saugerties farms, industrial sites and major
commercial and transportation interests coexisted, sharing
the same landscape, often separated only by the most
practical of physical barriers. Where a house relates to this
period the architectural elements of the landscape should
reference this level of relationship with fencing that defines
road separation, plantings that define lane courses and
walls that relate to fields or ridge lines. Barriers that
restrict land-form visibility and ornate estate-style
entryways are inappropriate for the period. Existing walls
and fences should be preserved wherever possible.
Restoration of existing historic fences and walls is always
preferred to replacement. Where stone walls are reset or
built new, they should follow the traditional drywall
techniques used in original construction.
Simple picket fences were common in the later 19th century
in the close built hamlets and village side streets. New
fences should follow local traditions appropriate to the
period of the property and immediate neighborhood. New
fences should not exceed 3 feet in height in any front yard
and 6 feet in height on back side and back yards. High
masonry walls, barricade fences, and other large imposing
fence like structures are discouraged because they are not
characteristic of any period of Saugerties' history. Chain
link fences are appropriate in industrial situations and not
in residential and commercial retail areas. Vinyl fences are
discouraged. Planting for screening is only appropriate
when needed to obstruct the otherwise unavoidable public
view of an inappropriate structure. Stockade fencing is
inappropriate for this purpose.
Market Street, this also could
have been built prior to 1820.
In the 1840's a fusion of
the late Federal, Greek
Revival, and early Italianate
styles began to emerge as the
common style that is familiar
along our streets and country
roads to this day. The genesis
of this stylistic fusion can be
seen in the Jeremiah Russell
house where, unlike earlier
Federal stone houses (e.g. the
Kiersted House discussed
previously), the gable and not
the eaves faced out to the
street. This unique blend of
the stylistic trends of the
mansions and quarryman's
cottages can be seen as the
hallmark of nearly the entire nineteenth century period's
stock of Saugerties' historic houses. It is a style, unique to
Saugerties, and owes its origins largely to the introduction of
certain formal elements specific to brick construction into
the look of residential structures. This followed brick's
expansive use in the building of local mills.
The look of the vernacular stone and frame house was
based on the fact that openings were not in need of a frame.
It took only three courses of stone to bridge a normal
opening with a corbel. Likewise in local frame houses, the
internal post support of the roof left wall openings with no
need to supply a support function. But to support a wall
above an opening in a brick wall a heavy design element had
to be added such as a brick arch, a stone lintel or a carved
hood. This introduced the opening as a design element.
The second design element from brick construction that
influences this style is found in the roof's eave line. The
massive stone ledge of a stone house was a surface that a
roof could simply sit on. A frame house was constructed with
the joists of the ceiling mortised a few feet down from the
roof ledge to solidify the wall. In both cases the roof's eaves
Page number 30Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The Sheffield book and envelope manufacturing buildings in a period illustration reprinted for the 1911 Town bicentennial
The west wall of “The Mill” with three floorsof 21 arches each in their original 1887 condition
Guidelines for Outbuildings
Outbuildings have a consistent presence throughout every
period of preservation interest in Saugerties. Whether as a
summer kitchen, a barn, a stable or a garage they share
with each period site their own form of symbiotic
significance.
General guidelines for care, maintenance and replacement
of outbuildings is covered on page 18.
It should be recognized that sites of functional buildings
often preserve valuable evidence of daily life lost to their
residential companions. Changes in style and living
conditions would befall the residence while the stable
retained its same use decade after decade. Whenever it is
necessary to replace or adaptively reuse the site or former
site of an outbuilding, or any early building for that matter,
care should be taken to remove and preserve any artifacts
related to human activities there over its long use.
Guidelines for Walks, Roads and Parking Areas
General guidelines for walks, roads and parking areas are
found on pages 18 and 19.
More specifically, the period under consideration here is
the period of Saugerties involvement with bluestone and
this material not only related to sidewalks and roadways in
Saugerties but in nearly every city of this period in the
country. Bluestone did not become a broadly recognized
paving material until the late 1830's but Saugerties was
already showing off bluestone sidewalks, crosswalks and
curbstones by 1834. It has some of the earliest applications
of bluestone paving that can be documented.
It is inappropriate to remove historic bluestone sidewalks
or entry walkways from any frontage within the Town or
Village of Saugerties.
It is inappropriate to permit bluestone pavers to remain un-
set or heaved to the point of being a danger to the public or
at risk of cracking.
It is typically never appropriate to replace bluestone slabs
with patio stones, concrete pavers, formed cement or brick.
In the rare case that replacement is necessary care must be
taken to assure that the same quality and color as
predominates in the neighborhood is used. Always use
craft-quarried local material whenever possible when a
match is required. Saugerties has virtually no examples of
non-local bluestone in its streets and residences except for
unfortunate installations permitted under misinformed
renewal project contracts.
Until 1873 there were two types of roadway in Saugerties:
those maintained as continuous-surfaced 2 rod wide beds
privately owned as turnpikes; and, the 12 foot wide
commons exemptions maintained by the property owners of
the land they crossed as rights of way. Saugerties' turnpikes
were used extensively for the heavy hauling of bluestone
and were improved as tram roads by applying rails
commonly called Belgium Bridges to prevent rutting. After
1873 when municipalities became responsible for commons
roads, bluestone wagon traffic was limited to these
improved turnpike roads.
The early roads of Saugerties are the most publically
accessible remains of our heritage. They are also where
were made fairly flush with the walls because the roof sat on
the top ledge of the wall. But a brick structure's roof needed
an element called a frieze board that capped the wall's top
edge to keep the weight of the roof from pressing the wall
outward.
Thus brick construction imposed a new awareness of the
window and door
openings and the
weight of the roof's
edge as stylistic
elements throughout
the community. These
elements are heavy
lintels, stepped brick
arches, or decorative
pediments over
window and door
openings, together
with broad frieze
boards framing the
gable and eave sides
with heavy scroll
brackets under deep
overhangs where
broad-faced box
gutters are supported.
This generally defines
the "feel" of the functional components of the common
Saugerties style.
The symmetry and form of the door and window
openings also linked the homes of this period to the look of
the massive mill buildings of the day. The earliest
photographs of these lost mill structures confirm details
Page number 31 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The managers’ homes lined the edge of Barclay’s Heights allowing viewslevel with the stylish office tower of the new mill building below
The repetition of the windows continuing into thecourtyard entry of the Sheffield envelope factory
The amount of light in the Sheffield building madeworking conditions state-of-the-art for the period
found among the many
residential examples
remaining from the same
time. "The Mill" on East
Bridge Street, the only
surviving example of the
early mills, was rehabilitated
in 1999. It used best building
practice approaches while re-
purposing its original 1887
shell, as a federally supported
senior housing project within
the Overlay Historic
Industrial District. The fabric
of the original 1887 building
has been faithfully preserved
as a highly visible point of
comparison.
Saugerties' second
lighthouse was built in 1869
at the height of this fusion
style's development. Its
multiple gables utilizing
massive roof edging and its
windows with massive brick
arched and quoined hoods
make it a good example of
the design found in the post
Civil War masonry and frame
building boom in Saugerties,
and a fitting marker as our
river gateway.
Page number 32Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The Saugerties Lighthouse is designed with all thebest features of the Saugerties Italianate style
The box cornice that crowns the lighthouse’s wallsis a typical feature found throughout Saugerties
The hood-looking arch lintels above paired, common-silled windows are Italianate features
Modified 5 bay facade of the west-facing side lookslike a typical post Civil War Saugerties residence
educational materials are most commonly found in the form
of State historical markers. It is inappropriate for any
agency or individual to adjust the course of an historic
road or pathway as defined by its inclusion in the Beers
Atlas of Ulster County of 1875 without performing an
historic engineering survey and documenting any
remaining historic material for the record.
Saugerties has a unique thread of title with much of its land
ownership originated with deeds issued from one source
with common wording. Exempt rights to trespass were
made to memorialize the common access even at times of
private ownership. New owners delineated these exempt
routes and they became known as Kingston Commons
Roads. By title right it is impossible to land-lock or make
private property legally inaccessible in any region of
Saugerties originally part of a class of the Kingston
Commons. As a guideline for appropriate stewardship of
these rights and/or legal obligations, established commons
roads should never be built upon, utilized for any purpose
that may block passage or increased in their original
course to a width beyond the 12 foot right of the exemption
to utilize them beyond their ancient intent. It is a
responsibility of surveyors, lawyers and sellers to document
any information they have on the location of these routes
for prospective purchasers.
Guidelines for Signs
In past years billboard signs were prevalent on Saugerties'
rural roadsides. A famous local irony was the attractive
nuisance status of the billboard on Route 212 that everyone
parked under and climbed for photographing from its top
the beauty of the Overlook and Plattekill mountain front.
Everyone sensed it was inappropriate to block such views
but it took Ladybird Johnson and Highway Beautification
to give that sense of appropriate behavior the status of law.
Local zoning ordinances now make it inappropriate to
display oversized and distracting signs that block the
ability to appreciate the commonplace attractions of our
roadsides with advertisement in a natural setting. Setbacks
and size limits are the restrictive details in the law that
address this consideration.
The typical roadside display of individuality is the rural
mailbox. These serve a duel purpose by also marking the
address of the home they serve. The appropriate manner of
choosing the size and style of a mailbox or driveway
marker is to match the local choice for road sign lettering.
The appropriate use of temporary signs such as location
markers for real estate offerings and campaign signs
during election periods is to have an assigned sales person
or political volunteer periodically maintain the placement
and straightness of the sign.
Guidelines for Light Fixtures
Lights celebrate. Seasonal lights welcome visitors to the
warmth of a home. Pride in a home is displayed in the way
internal and external lighting shows off its form in a night
time setting. As with signs, with lighting, less is more. Glare
can annoy motorists and neighbors. Light pollution is when
light is aimed into the distance or at the sky. Appropriate
use of lighting requires conscientious control over fixtures
to replace broken diffusers and misdirected beams.
GUIDELINES FOR THE MAIN/PARTITION MODELGuidelines addressing the Village of Saugerties Main-Partition Streets National Register Historic District relate to the architectural significance and preservation imperatives of not only these commercial buildings but also the homes of the 1850's to early 20th century era in the Town and Village of Saugerties. This was a period of extensive expansion in the business district and streets surrounding the village's center and around the river, railroad, and automobile transportation routes that together played a part in making Saugerties a thriving mercantile community.
The period is represented roughly by structures from the pre-Civil War, Second Empire style William Russell residence on Market Street, the Whitaker Block on Main Street and the J. O. Winston Mansion/Saugerties Farm complex completed in the early 1920's. Mostly, this section of the guidelines relates to the broadly popular late-Victorian ornamented appearance that is the hallmark of the Historic Business District's brick and iron front stores that attract commerce and tourism to present-day Saugerties.
Guidelines for Walls
Preservation guidelines for the historic village business district commercial buildings deals with the facades, or street-facing walls. These facades have three major components:
!storefront - the first story;
!upper facade - the second story and above;
!cornice - the decorative feature typical of the top or roof line.
Each of these elements is important to the character of the individual building as well as the historic district and should be maintained in accordance with these guidelines. In addition, any new construction added or existing building restored within the historic district should have these three elements as distinct design components compatible with neighboring historic structures.
The residential buildings of the period generally have the same stylistic divisions, mainly the porch entry level, the decorative window framing of the story above, and the ornate edging of the gables and roof line in general. The guidelines for these components are essentially the same as those that govern the business district's buildings.
The materials of the walls of the business district range from iron to brick and include a number of early wood-faced examples. In general the character of the commercial district's individual walls is made up of a sidewalk-level pattern of storefronts featuring glass and recessed door. The entire district is unified by an overall impression of individual but contiguous buildings forming a silhouette of decorative cornices and pediments at their tops.
The storefront level is a continuous pattern of entries consisting of display-glass window-wall fronts above low bulkheads immediately against broad bluestone sidewalks. A small number of storefronts are products of mid 20th century updates but most retain original details from the last quarter of the 19th century.
This continuous line of sidewalk-facing building fronts defines the streetscape of the Village and creates a "street wall". This relationship must be maintained in any replacement of a storefront or construction of a new building. Extension beyond the plane of fronts, or setback from this "wall", are both inappropriate. This applies to levels above the entry as well.
The primary retail entrance is historically a recess that narrows in width from a broad opening between flanking display windows to either single or double doors. Stores of the turn of the century had single doors with large glass panes. The recess differentiates the commercial entry from
Page number 33 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Transom windows
Signboard (fascia)
Pilaster
Upper story columns
Recess windowsRecess double doors
Date Pediment
Cornice
Parapet
Frieze panel
Major display pane
Lower window panel
Window sash
Window sill
Window hood (lintel)
Preservation of Saugerties Mercantile Period
niquely
separate from Uthe preservation
themes of the greater part of
the Village and Town are
those of the buildings that
defined Saugerties as an
important 19th and early
20th century mercantile
center.
Following the Civil War the village business district
became a thematic attraction for photographers and as a result
we are fortunate to have their legacy to inform us. From these
photographs we can follow the village's transition from a mix
of residential structures and early multi-story commercial
buildings into the streetscape known today as the Main-
Partition Streets Historic District.
The buildings of the village center's earliest growth period
have been, as in every area of prime commercial real estate in
America, largely replaced or modified in cycles that reflected
examples of business growth and changes in architectural
taste. Thus few commercial businesses from the pre-1875
period remain in Saugerties; some that are in those 1875
photographs are gone a decade later. But
from these photographs a glimpse
of an earlier Main
Street is
preserved;
an era of
shops with
townhouse-style
entries, two steps up, to
massive bluestone platforms
surrounded by decorative iron
railings. We can infer that a more
South side of Main Street from the second issue of The Pearl, February, 1875.
secondary building entries that accesses the upper floors, which were made to be architecturally flush with the front wall.
Various forms of pilasters and moldings relate the street-level to the upper story architectural elements, in the same general style. This defines the stylistic period and age of the building. In general, the storefront level should retain the architectural character of the building above. Those that have this remaining should keep it in good repair. Those that are replacing previous un-historic updates are encouraged to restore their storefront to conform to the period of their building. Never "early up" a storefront with such elements as "lumberyard colonial" detailing like pedimented frontispiece entrances, coach lanterns, pent roof overhangs, wood shakes, non-operable shutters, and small-paned windows. These did not exist historically in the historic business district. Photographic or other documentation must be uses to guide any storefront restoration work.
Avoid use of materials that were unavailable when the storefront was constructed; this includes vinyl and aluminum siding, anodized aluminum, mirrored or tinted glass, artificial stone, and brick veneer. In general, do not coat or cover surfaces that have never been painted or "protected".
The walls of mercantile buildings that face the buying public were built to show off the quality of the establishment as well as the goods inside. Generally, the Saugerties business district was built with the best materials available for the period. Individual buildings were made to last. They are an average century and a quarter old and for well over half that time were kept in top shape by their original owners. When kept-up and in good repair, using appropriate materials and techniques, these sentinels of our past will last another century or more. For routine masonry repair and maintenance see page 11. For cleaning and restoring period masonry see page 22. Replacing and repair of brick should be done in accordance with methods and materials covered in previous sections of these guidelines.
The most challenging situation that a historic commercial building can find itself in usually stems from the demands business promotion and modern services place on their walls. Electric, phone and cable wire hangers, projecting sign supports and meter boxes all find ways to stress facade materials and decorative features that were designed for an era before these existed. In general, it is inappropriate to place fasteners in bricks. They should be set into mortar joints and the openings (not the brick surrounding them) sealed against moisture entry. If fasteners must be at areas of ornamentation they should only be placed into seams or joints and never into carved or molded faces. Unfortunately, these actions are mainly those of service contractors and done without the knowledge of building owners or the appropriate authorities. It is important that once damage is discovered from such abuses, it be corrected immediately.
Guidelines for Trim & Ornamentation
The period of significance for Saugerties' historic commercial district saw the introduction of metal elements
personal place of
business, more like a
parlor, was the norm
from the Main-Partition
district's beginnings in
the 1830's to just before
the period of these
photographs.
It appears from these
photographs that the
commercial store fronts
of this early period used
bluestone extensively. It
is found not just in steps
and platforms but in the massive columns and spanning
lintels and sills of their facades. This form not only used
local materials but also showcased the locally merged Greek
Revival and Italianate styles of storefront in the period.
In 1875 photos,
notably of a building
shown on Partition
Street's east side just one
lot from the corner of
Main, and in another two
lots east of the Main and
James Street corner, we
see commercial buildings
in Saugerties village
showing off the native
bluestone material. The
only remaining example
of this is in the Bigelow Bluestone office building in Malden
where the column forms of this style that stand out in an
1880's photograph remain after its mid 20th century
adaptation for residential use.
Within the Village historic business district there are 84
separate landmark designations Over three quarters of these
were documented photographically between the 1875
publication of "The Pearl" and the 1905 publication of the
Saugerties portion of "Picturesque Ulster". These
publications plus numerous post cards and unpublished
.
Page number 34Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Newspaper cut from 1890’s of Merritt store as seen in detailin The Pearl photo shown in previous page streetscape
East side of Partition Street from the third issue of The Pearl, March, 1875.
for both structural and applied architectural ornament. Saugerties Village has some significant metal-front buildings in the business district. The houses along the immediate side streets also have many metal features as part of their facades. The following guidelines for these metal features apply most specifically to their preservation. (For trim and decorative components crafted of wood see page 26):
!Do not move or remove architectural features that define the historic character or integrity of a building. Common metal architectural features include windowhoods, doors, stairways, railings, cornices, roof cresting, finials, columns, lanterns, canopy hoods, and fences.
!Sanding, priming, and painting should be used to address small patches of deterioration. More extensive damage may require limited replacement to match exactly.
!Replace only those portions of metal features that exhibit significant deterioration. All sound portions should be left intact. Replacement should be patched, spliced, or reinforced using an accepted preservation method. If in-kind replacement is not available, a visually and physically compatible substitute may be used.
!Do not remove deteriorated metal features and replace them with elements that do not have the same visual characteristics. Do not remove or replace sound historic features.
!Do not expose (remove coatings such as paint, etc.) from metal features that require protection from the elements. Conversely, do not apply paint coatings to metals that were historically meant to be exposed, such as copper, bronze or stainless steel.
!Corrosion of metal reinforcements in concrete, as well as displaced masonry in buildings with internal metal lintels over doors and windows is a sign of water infiltration and should be remediated and repaired promptly by a trained professional.
!The reconstruction of any missing metal feature should be based on historical, pictorial, or physical evidence. If no evidence is available, features should be a compatible new design, rather than a falsely-historical reconstruction.
!Any new metal features, if appropriate, should be compatible in size, scale, material, and color with the historic building.
!Do not place incompatible metals together without a protective barrier, as this can result in galvanic corrosion. For example, copper can corrode cast iron, steel, tin, or aluminum.
!Photographically document architectural features that are slated for reconstruction prior to the removal of any historic fabric.
!Clean metal features only where such cleaning will not damage historic color, texture, or patina. Any cleaning treatment should use the gentlest means possible and first be tested in an inconspicuous location to determine any possible adverse effects.
!Clean soft metals (tin, lead, copper, zinc) using appropriate chemical methods. Blasting methods will damage and pit their surfaces.
!Clean hard metals (cast iron, wrought iron, steel) by scraping with a wire brush to remove corrosion and paint buildup. If additional cleaning is required, low-pressure grit blasting may be used.
,
photographs are our
principal references for
understanding the
developmental history
of the landmark district.
This photographic
record preserves a way
of life and a record of
the district remarkably
different from that
represented in today's
built environment. Most
striking are buildings that were once within the footprint of
the existing historic business district a century ago but that
are not there today. At the extreme south end of the Partition
Street side of the district the Maxwell House hotel is gone
and at the Market Street corner of Main the Russell Block
building is gone. Across from the Russell Block was the
Maxwell Opera House, which was completely remodeled
when the building was converted into a bank. These three
buildings were the center of Saugerties at that time
representing the tradition of housing guests in style and
entertaining them with scenic outdoor pursuits and evening
cultural gatherings that had matured a half century before.
The original role of the village as a cultural center is not
the theme of the National Register Historic District. Rather,
it is the physical representation of a process that gave us the
buildings as they exist today. As such, it is fortunate that we
have the photographic record to fill in this lost phase of the
village's life.
The oldest
structure still
standing in the
historic district
is on Partition
Street.
Originally a
residence
thought to be
the same one
Page number 35 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The Seamon Bros. building of 1882 is typical of the greatarchitect-designed buildings of the Historic District
From the 1911 Saugerties Centennial program
!Reapply an appropriate paint or other coating system to previously painted metal after cleaning. Failure to do so will result in accelerated corrosion of the metal or alloys.
!Each type of metal requires specialized treatment. Have metal on historic buildings identified by a qualified material conservator or metal contractor to ensure the appropriate cleaning treatment is followed. Use only those cleaning treatments that are appropriate to the type of metal being cleaned.
The most distinctive ornamental features characteristic of the historic business district are found in the pattern of parapets and pediments that mark its skyline (see Roof Element Form). In most of the buildings of the historic business district these and the window and door trims are the only non masonry elements.
Guidelines for Foundations
Foundations can present archaeological clues to the origins of a structure. In most buildings of the post-Civil War era lower levels were still utilized as occupied space and their foundations were exposed to the height of the required windows. Both residential and commercial buildings of this period had raised entries with porches to get above the foundation and access the main floor. The basement was typically occupied for support functions such as cooking, laundry and some light manufacturing, and often as living space for support employees. There are period advertisements for businesses that occupied basement spaces in this era.
By the late 19th century the introduction of modern utilities from under the street caused basements to become associated with the mechanical functions of the building. The paving of streets and the parallel raising of sidewalks also covered foundation details of many of the older buildings. For many buildings the division feature between the basement and walls, the water table, became the ground level and entries became sidewalk-level or one step up.
Any remaining exposure of a foundation in the historic district, especially if solely or partially of stone, should show their materials and should not be covered with stucco or parge layers.
Guidelines for Chimneys
In the age before central heating the chimney was a symbol of comfort. Homes displayed the affluence of their owners with the numbers of, and quality craftsmanship of, chimneys. The mercantile period of Saugerties' growth saw ornate chimney brickwork blossom. The patterns, inlays and caps as well as the pipes that mount the chimney top were all made of the most durable materials of their day and should be retained.
Keeping a chimney in good shape is simply a matter of keeping the immediate masonry at the roof line sound. The roof at the chimney must remain structurally sound and not be allowed to settle. The flashing at the chimney and roof drainage where a chimney is at an edge must divert runoff away from masonry.
Chimneys should never be removed from, have their location moved, or be newly added to period structures. They are an historical design feature. Chimneys should be maintained in their original height, form and design. If a chimney is reconstructed, it should match the period chimneys of the house in style and material where it is exposed above the roof line. Non-masonry chimney stacks should not be used. The removal of inappropriate metal and
shown as belonging to
George Taylor on the
Kiersted map of 1825, it
was first reliably recorded
as being there when its shed
was purchased in 1834 for
housing the ladder unit of the fire
company (image on page 20).th
The newest structures relative to the late 19 century
period recorded in these photographs are two that flank the
ends of the south side of Main Street; one at the Partition
Street corner and the other at the James Street corner. A
centennial publication from 1911 documents the prominence
of these recent additions. Another prominent structure in
that publication was the Orpheum theater (1909), also in the
district.
Only a few locations in the historic district had non-
contributing structures at the time of the National Register th
listing: two 19 century residential buildings with mid 20th
century brick store front additions, two (now converted) gas
stations, a lot with a utility building, and a mid 20th century
commercial building. Since these buildings are within the
designated district these non-contributing structures are
Page number 36Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
1875
1900
1911
19-teen’s
1920’s
Main Street looking eastMain-Partition StreetsNational Register Historic District,Saugerties New York
cinder block external chimneys previously placed on houses of architectural significance is highly encouraged.
Guidelines for Roof and Roof Element Form
Typically, mid- to late-nineteenth century commercial buildings have flat to gently sloping roofs that are not visible as a stylistic feature. However, the transition elements that define the pediment or parapet face of the roof and the accompanying dormer and cupola forms of this period are of great interest (see Dormers). Due to the early adoption of the ornamental roof line in Saugerties, these forms are valued as a defining feature of the historic business district as a whole.
One of the earliest commercial buildings, the Whitaker Block, possesses a pediment that echoes the style of residential houses of the period. Dormers became framed window elements on nearly vertical mansard roof-line transitions beginning in the late 1840's and this commercial building has one of the most intact examples of this style. The Whitaker block and several of the more elaborate houses on close-by side streets show that this style was popular before the third quarter of the 19th century.
The roof element is a signifier for the social structure of the mercantile period of Saugerties. In this period the space
under the roof, or the garret of the building replaced the basement as living space for the support employees of the household. The building design choices of the affluent displayed multiple elaborate gables and dormers to provide light and air to these spaces as well as serve as decorative features. As times changed, many of the residences that sported these features lost them to renovation.
The principle visual element of the roof line of the mid-century to fin-de-siecle period in Saugerties is the pattern of ornate trim seen forming a single architectural band capping the building. This begins in the 1850's with the shape of a slate shingled mansard face. It transitions after the Civil War to a punctuation of the design and placement of dormer or gable faces surrounding the roof. The final form is in the pedimented front of the commercial building's parapet of the late Victorian era showing off the name of the proprietor. Every element of this cap is designed for one complete effect. From the
early Second Empire look to the later Victorian this look emphasizes the drama of the roof; the crowning and completing of the building. Details such as metal rails and finials, sills and gutter spouts and slate patterns need to be preserved to maintain the integrity of this effect. The cap or pediment level of the Whitaker Block building supplies a highly visible catalog of components for achieving this result.
Guidelines for Roofing
Maintenance of the roof surface is the most important task of the conscientious building owner. Though not seen by the public, the condition of parapet walls behind the pediments and the top surfaces of corniced overhangs is integral to the preservation of these historic features. The same can be said of the decorative roof edge features of almost every home in Saugerties from this period. Keeping these
subject to the same review as contributing buildings if any
changes or rehabilitations are proposed. The goal is not to
make them look as if they are historic, but rather to ensure
that any alterations to them do not negatively impact the
historic district.
Since designation in 1984, there have been only a few
losses in the district. One listed structure, a carriage barn has
been dismantled and removed, leaving a parking lot, and one
was destroyed by fire, replaced by a shed addition and
surface parking. It is noteworthy and instructive, though, that
a building at the north corner of Jane at Partition was rebuilt
to its historic two story form identifiable from 1875 photos
after losing its early 20th century third floor addition to fire
in the early 1990's.
The National Register Listing
ome of the historic district's character comes from
existing historic iron storefronts, period markers Sthat were once the last word in style for
progressive shops of the 1880's. Unfortunately, a number of
other such elements were lost in downtown redevelopment
and urban renewal schemes.
Page number 37 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
intricate layers of built-up molded and carved wood, metal, and other materials from dampness-caused rot, rust and peeling depends on roofs inspected annually and appropriately repaired by professionals.
Guidelines for Dormers
Dormers and cupolas are found on the few early Georgian and Federal-styled houses of
thSaugerties and in later19th and early 20 century of the Colonial Revival era and additions to authentic colonial structures that followed this trend. Their materials and stylistic details are highly visible architectural elements, especially with Federal-style fan windows.
Newly built homes of this historic period either had turrets, towers or cupolas as architectural components or had dormers integrated into their designs. The fashion of late 19th century architecture was to have an asymmetrical roof form decorated or shingled in a unique pattern to show off the individualistic character of the home and its owner.
As these are roof surface elements they are susceptible to weathering more than other parts of the structure. Preservation requires particular attention to the valleys where surfaces and roof lines meet the main roof. Due to exposure, trim and moldings around edges and window frames require more attention than similar components on main walls of the house. Where decorative materials have been applied such as slates and shingles or where decorative iron castings, grills, or crowns are set in masonry, care must be taken to make sure these remain securely fastened into the main architectural surface.
The character of all the buildings of this period in Saugerties mirrors the character of the historic business district and just as the signature element of the commercial rows of buildings is their ornate caps, the houses of the business owners also have their comparable rooftop attractiveness. The two of these together in one village setting gives the full effect of a sidewalk to skyline experience for visitor and resident alike and should be maintained at a high level as a sign of community pride.
Guidelines for Gutters and Downspouts
The village of Saugerties was planned in conjunction with the engineering that brought it water powered mills and population in the 1830's. The residential water supply and sewer infrastructure were well defined by the time the earliest commercial buildings were being designed and thus, the majority of the village began with internal and external drainage functions linked to a common underground support system. Development logically followed the streets that carried this infrastructure. Only homes along the old side streets to the south and the post civil war streets to the north retained the more rural cistern and gravity tank systems that took advantage of rainwater runoff. The buildings have roof to ground gutter-downspout systems.
Understanding the function of roof-to-street drainage systems is one of the most important homeowner duties and one of the primary concerns in preservation of a period house or building. The original slopes, drainage channels and downspout plumbing of a structure should be maintained as it was originally designed in systems that
The listing's statement
of significance notes the
building on the corner of
Partition and Jane Streets;
this building has retained
its original balcony iron
work and original store
front glass and entry. The
current condition is
virtually identical to its
1875 photo in The Pearl.
The significance statement also notes the district's range
of craftsmanship and style, pointing out dated metal
pediments and ornate cornices of brick buildings in the
Victorian style, and compares these to the "Dutch course"
brickwork and oval pediment-framed window of the early
century Greek Revival style store of what was then Lamb's
Hardware on Market Street (now the Village Apothecary -
image on page 27).
Also
highlighted in the
statement are the
brick livery stable
behind the Grand
Hotel, a similar
brick building
west of Partition,
a brick carriage
structure
(possibly the
1842 fire house)
on Jane Street
and the frame
carriage barn
(now gone)
behind Lamb's.
These show the
importance of the
transportation
heritage of the village and its early connections with the
countryside and river boat landings.
Page number 38Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
1882 Seamon Bros. Building corner Main and James streets
Jane Street at Partition, March issue of The Pearl, 1875
originally emptied into storm sewers. In rural systems where previous cistern-based systems now link to sewer drains, the sealing of the old features must also be checked frequently. Backup-caused internal wall and foundation dampness due to malfunction or code-based adaption can be the cause of hidden deterioration.
Where downspouts meet the ground, deterioration of the foundation as well as basement flooding can occur if the outlet is not diverted. The discharge areas for down spouts should be a minimum of six feet from a foundation wall. Compact soils and grass should slope away from the foundation and extend to a point lower then the basement floor level if possible. If not possible, use of a sump or creation of a catch basin to make a low point is an acceptable alternative.
Guidelines for Windows and Doorways
The dominant street-level feature of the historic business district is the large plate glass display windows and full glass panel doors found on the storefronts. Historically, this expanse of glass began to be technically possible in the earliest period this section of the guidelines addresses; the 1850's. Large window openings in residences filled with 2 over 2 windows (the same configurations being used on the upper floors above storefronts), are representative of this period. In residences, paired windows allowing large amounts of light into the house added a distinct design element to the street-facing facade of the Italianate style.
The stores of Main and Partition Streets show off some of the earliest application of internal iron for supporting the broad openings for newly available larger size of glass. The oldest buildings with this form of construction are from the immediate post-Civil War years. The windows in photographs of the early 1870's Russell Block building (lost to fire) are proportioned to twice the height of a man, span five feet and support three stories above. The most extreme example of this introductory era of glass is represented by the support that allows the curved window at the corner of Main and Partition.
Correct window and door forms and guidelines for repair and appropriate replacement of residential doors, windows and shutters is found on pages 14 and 15. A discussion of the benefits of retaining original door and window frame components is found on page 26 and 27.
Relative to commercial settings, doors in the historic district should be consistent in design with the general period of the district. Generally, this calls for a single plate glass panel above a kick panel dimensioned to match the common 19 inch bulkhead base of the display window(s). Appropriate replacement doors, when needed, should match this glass-to-frame proportion. Earlier recessed doorways contained double doors of this proportion and the later more massive single doors typically maintained this same proportion of glass. Narrower doors for secondary entrances followed the same design. It is highly important to maintain original doors as they can be costly to replace even with contemporary materials.
Upper story windows are an important element in the rhythm of architectural details that makes the business district interesting and picturesque. The mid-century form of the Davis block filling the south east corner of Main and Partition streets and the Exchange Hotel diagonally opposite, contrast to the taller buildings of the post Civil war period in the size and spacing of their upper story windows. The massive brick construction with often
In general the National Register significance statement
recognized the range of architectural styles and community-
related uses of the designations in the listing as
representative of the historic character of the district. But
even those outside the overall period of significance, i.e.
updated storefronts on the otherwise fine examples of these
preserved buildings, add a different level of historical
interest. Those renewal-period changes blend in with the
number of well preserved classic Mesker-style iron fronts,
continuing the general sidewalk-level streetscape of plate
glass conformity. This "feel" of the business district,
common to all the downtown development schemes of the
20th century, is recorded as an evolutionary process starting
with the first application of plate glass in the 1850's in
Saugerties' Main-Partition Historic District.
Some highly notable examples of Italianate and Victorian
storefronts, some retained, others restored, match the periods
of their building's architecture exactly. The Village has a
revolving loan fund to encourage rehabilitations like these,
and tax incentives on both the local, state, and national
levels can be utilized at designated properties that carry out
this level of appropriate improvement. However, it is the
broad range of building styles and types transitioning over a
long period of continuous commercial use that is the theme
of this 84-designation district National Register listing.
Because special consideration was paid to this long use
relative to the history of the village and town as the business
district's significant contribution, the preservation priority for
the district is retention and restoration of each individual
structure's historic identity. This character is considered in
discussions of criteria and standards applied when reviewing
the appropriateness of any change being planned.
Page number 39 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
1954 aerial photo of historic district area with all historic fabric intact
RO
SE
NB
LU
M A
ND
LA
MB
AR
CH
IVE
S
overstated iron-front support pilasters allowed large open spaces filled with windows in the upper stories. The history of our reach for verticality is seen in the variety of window spacing found in the Historic District.
The single most inappropriate activity that can take place in the historic business district is the blocking of a display window. The business district is a three-dimensional setting. It is defined as much by the inside of the buildings reading as a void as it is the facades, sidewalk and street. A storefront window's function is to show off the inside. The door is recessed to provide additional show space as well as provide some protection for an entering patron. If in the pattern of stores that line a commercial streetscape, one window is covered; papered over or curtained; all the attractiveness of the setting is lost. The transparency of the main panes of the storefronts are the soul of the commercial experience. In no instance should a storefront be permanently in filled.
Guidelines for Entranceways and Porches
A detail common to the storefronts of nearly all buildings of all periods in the historic business district is the lower cornice immediately over the storefront. This simple element is responsible for the harmony of the sidewalk-level of the commercial streetscape. It sets the scale for the storefront at sidewalk level, creating a sense of proportion for the stroller.
Often the lower cornice's base is the mounting point of an awning. Awnings are a traditional entry element for the storefront and add color and diversity to the streetscape. Only traditional awnings made of cotton or canvas and in traditional colors and the patterns found on period photos are appropriate. Whenever possible the awning color should be coordinated with the color of the building, storefront or the major signage. Contemporary curved or "Marquee" awnings are inappropriate for the theme of the historic business district. Awnings above the entryway on the upper facade and on residential structures of historic significance are appropriate only if based on precedent.
For the residential home this is the period of the porch. When guidelines dealt with the porch in the previous sections they addressed later, non-original porch additions made to homes. Many times these porches were used as an "update" to the house's original style, and may have been a replacement to an earlier, sometimes smaller porch or a new feature altogether. Pages 27 and 28 carry the general guidelines for caring for these porches. These guidelines will look at the porches built to be integral to the structure and design of the house.
Because of the importance porches play in the perception of historic buildings and streetscapes, the original materials should be preserved as long as possible. Typically areas covered by a porch roof tend to require less maintenance; however, steps and railings are usually exposed to the weather and might require additional maintenance. Regular painting is generally the best means of preservation.
Should components of the porch be missing or so deteriorated that replacement is necessary, it is always appropriate to match detail, if not material, when repairing or replacing. Wood putty materials capable of being sculpted and/or paintable moldings of synthetic materials are options. It is, today, possible to find synthetic materials to replace a detail originally made of old growth wood. However, it is always more logical to repair details carved of old growth wood because nothing will prove more
Preserving our grand estate and village
homes
he business district's
showcasing of TSaugerties' late 19th
century mercantile strength is
reflected in the expressions of
individuality that its wealthier
residents brought to the stylistic
choices for their homes. The
gilded era's preference that the
wealthy have a country seat on
the banks of the Hudson
River brought the already-
arrived and the up-and-
coming that gathered around
them to Saugerties. House
building starting in the
1890's through the 1920's
surrounding Saugerties'
business district and on
estate lands along its river
edge became a competition
to show off the best in
refined taste for those on, or
wishing to be on, the social
calendar.
In the last half of the 19th
century the generation that
founded the industries that
provided the native wealth of
Saugerties had passed on.
Their heirs and those
attracted to the
extravagance their
inheritances permitted
brought a new order to
the village and
countryside. The iron
mill's smoky and loud
Page number 40Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The Judge Davis house on John Street, built around 1882, remained in the family until sold to the American Legion in the 1950’s. Inside were the original architect’s drawings (top) and photographs of the house as it changed over the years.
durable.
The hallmark of the porch is decorative detail. Cornice-work scrolls, turned railings and intricate angle and finials may be a painter's nightmare but are the "class" part of the house.
The porch of the period was generally integrated into the house design by defining the angles and entrances of its ground level. Sometimes it was made to look as if it buttressed the walls and visually supported the variety of volumes designed into the roofline's many dormers and cross gables. The porch and roof together gave the designer or builder the opportunity to make the house an individual expression. The homes that have retained this individuality intact are architectural treasures.
See page 16 for guidelines that address porch enclosure.
Guidelines for Decks and Terraces
In the Historic District the issue of decks and terraces relates to deep set-backs and open lots. There are currently two outdoor eating areas in the historic district in such lots and, if you count up all the open lots and side carriageway-sized alleys, there's a potential of half a dozen more. While it is preferred that open space be used for infill construction matching the continuous sidewalk-fronting storefront pattern of the historic district's theme, interim use of open space for commercial enterprise is encouraged provided it matches zoning and planning codes.
An appropriate use of open space will frame and scale any set-back primary or auxiliary structure on the lot or, if none exists, then the viewshed that the lot's use opens to the sidewalk or streetscape. The business occupying the open space has the same responsibilities as other businesses that have historic buildings to maintain. It is the responsibility of the developer of the space to assure that the view featured by the use of their space as a commercial setting is appropriate for all the patrons of the historic district to view. It is inappropriate to either block or ignore a backdrop setting that is open to view from the historic district.
Since businesses utilizing open spaces are generally seasonal, the appropriate way for the business to maintain its premises off-season is to remove all indications that there is a business; furniture, signs, etc. Any sense of abandonment of the property or another use such as visible storage is inappropriate. An appropriate preparation of the lot for its seasonal use will consider the way it looks off season to the other historic district businesses and visitors.
The function of an outdoor eating or display area requires a level surface. Bluestone slabs provide the most appropriate surfacing as this continues the theme of the sidewalk into the establishment. While other paving systems may be used such as brick and patio pavers, it is never appropriate to use asphalt or plain concrete. Regardless of the material used, the addition of bluestone as an accent material in edging, wall or entry walkway is encouraged.
This use in the historic district follows a well defined use of terraces as verandas nested into garden schemes that arrived in this period alongside the popularity of landscaping. Most larger houses had formal gardens with accompanying sitting areas for enjoying the views. These, in the back yards of the Village, and stepping down the slopes of the country estates, often have to have their materials periodically resurrected from their slow sinking into the earth. Often, after years of neglect, they have to be totally rediscovered and excavated. This is well worth the effort. The saving of a sunken stone pathway or a sod-
reputation
had been
lost to
Pittsburgh
but its
reputation
for making Saugerties
a place of profitable
investments had lost
none of its glow. In
this age a place with a
railroad and steamboat
connection close to the
grand estates on the
Hudson was a good
place to invest an
architect's skill and a
trend begun among the
entrepreneurs of New
York City to
seasonally socialize in
Saugerties.
Not surprisingly,
many of these new
part-time residents had
amassed their wealth
from mechanical and
manufacturing-related
enterprises and intellectual properties related to
technological pursuits. The clustering of these like-minded
entrepreneurs that had its origins in the pursuits of Henry
Barclay continued a strong attraction to the parlors of
Saugerties.
An example of the way this attraction played out in one
specific set of events is instructive. This begins in the
greenhouse of the village mansion of G. W. Washburn, the
second largest operator of tug boats on the Hudson from
solely hauling the bricks of the Washburn Brothers brick
yards. His interest in scientific plant breeding sparked an
interest in cattle breeding for which he consolidated dozens
Page number 41 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Bright Bank remained intact as an estate throughout the proprietorship of Henry Barclay, Blaise Lorrilard, John Sheffield, Robert Main and finally Edwin Jan Van Etten before a short period as Dale’s Sanitarium. Now the grounds and manor house are being restored by the Hensons.
covered patio is archeology well worth undertaking. What can be pried up with a crowbar is far more valuable than what may have come to mind to place over it, and likely valued at three times the price if it could be bought. It is not only appropriate, but practical, to dig up and re-set the bluestone slabs that surround every house of the area.
Guidelines for Fences and Landscape Walls
There are general recommendations for fences that are historic as well as those that may be proposed. The Town has a zoning code addressing the height and location of a fence and these guidelines for historic precedents guide appropriate material and form to fit with an historic setting. Whenever the stricter rule applies, that rules. Fences are territorial symbols and carry that baggage. However, as a rule, it is appropriate to keep fences neighborly.
In the case of the Historic Business District, the Village does not appear to have a zoning code covering fences so the guidelines that will be appropriate within Town code will be for district application overall. In the historic business district "stockade", split rail, chain link and rough sawn slab fencing are generally not appropriate for use in any setting that is visible from the sidewalks of Main, Partition, James, Jane, First, or the stretches of John, Market or Livingston streets that are in district bounds.
The period of significance for the historic business district is also the period for which we have the earliest photographic documentation. From this it is recognized that fencing was commonly used along side streets to separate lawns from sidewalks and streets. The common picket fence in all its varieties lends charm to the period streetscapes of these early photos. Therefore, it is not only practical, but historical, that lots with set-back structures or that are currently parking lots would blend into the historic district by having a picket fence in line with the other building storefronts of the street. A single curb-cut should be defined for each parking lot and the remainder of its frontage appropriately fenced. All fences must be in good repair, upright, straight and painted; maintained just as if they were the storefront on the next sidewalk frontage.
For screening objects from view, or when permitted for privacy, a trellis with or without plantings is the only appropriate structure allowable over three feet in height.
Guidelines for Outbuildings
More than in all the previous eras, auxiliary buildings were common in the late nineteenth century. These ranged from the immense ice houses on the river and warehouses along the railroad lines to the egg and dairy production structures of the country side. As the area passed into the age of the automobile, the back yard utility shed took on the appearance of the estate's carriage house and the carriage house on the estate sprouted greenhouses and breeding barns as well as garages. Many of these have since fallen to fire or decay or have been converted into dwellings. The few that remain intact are a source of great interest.
As with all buildings of the period, these are built of old growth lumber and wherever this is repairable, it should never be replaced. Seldom are these structures built on more than stone piers. If the ground does not build up over the piers and the sills remain ventilated, and if the roof is kept intact to keep moisture from the interior, the walls should remain structurally sound. In some cases, as in railroad stations, these structures are built solidly enough to have been moved intact. Some were built as containers
of properties in
the 1880's to
create the 300
acre Shagbark
Farm in Pine
Grove.
A generation
later his heirs
sold the farm to
Edwin Cadwell, a leverage buyout kingpin of his day, who
auctioned the prize breeders. The best were purchased by J.
O. Winston, a principal contractor for the construction of the
Ashokan reservoir, the water supply for New York City just
to our south, for his own scientific breeding interests on his
thousand-acre Saugerties Farm (ca.1920). By 1922 Winston's
large architect-designed bluestone mansion and farm
building complex was an intellectual center. Meanwhile, the
Shagbark farm was developed into a retreat and colony by
the guru of positive thinking and friend to every successful
entrepreneur of the Gilded Age, Napoleon Hill, as a place for
ideas to find receptive and nurturing company.
This same progression of events was being repeated on
land along the river, on other ancient farms along the base of
the mountains and in most places that had not had their
quality disrupted by bluestone quarrying or brick making.
Many of the mansions built on the large estates of this
period are gone. However, there are remnants of this period's
influence everywhere in the character and identity of
Saugerties. The Augusta Savage Studio and House is one,
and is listed on the National Register. The house and school
of the artist Abraham Champanier was designated a
landmark of the Town in 2009. The mansion house and
grounds of the Winston Farm are National Register Eligible
and their significance is extensively documented by the
Historic Preservation Commission. The Anchorage Farm,
,
Page number 42Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Kingsmead is the 1920’s manor house of J. O. Winston. It was made into acountry club hall in 1951 and has been unoccupied since 1958.
and are as strong as a sealed box.
The garages in the village and the livery stables behind the original hotels are examples of the historic fabric of the town.
Guidelines for Streetscapes
The walks, roads, and parking areas of this section are mainly those found in the historic business district and adjacent streets and sidewalks. Their guidelines reflect activities of not just the private property or business owner but the village, county and state interests in the road systems that lead to and pass through the district.
A priority of these guidelines is the preservation of Saugerties' relationship with bluestone, bluestone's use in sidewalks in Saugerties, and the understanding of how that history makes bluestone a significant physical identifier of Saugerties' heritage. Bluestone did not become a broadly recognized paving material until the late 1840's but Saugerties was already showing off bluestone sidewalks, crosswalks and curbstones by 1834, some of the earliest such applications of bluestone that can be documented. Thus, it is highly inappropriate to remove historic bluestone sidewalks or entry walkways or platforms from any frontage within the Town or Village of Saugerties. It is also inappropriate to permit bluestone sidewalk slabs to remain un-set or heaved to the point of being a danger to the public or at risk of cracking. And it is never appropriate to replace vintage quarried local bluestone slabs with concrete or asphalt. In the rare case that replacement is necessary care must be taken to assure that the same quality and color as predominates in the neighborhood is used. Always use craft-quarried local material when a match is required.
Parallel to the preservation of our bluestone heritage is the preservation of the village historic district's general streetscape as a historic transportation hub. It is a unique representative of a period of historic progressions spanning
river and turnpike to railroad and automobile-improved roads and, as a consequence, it is still the site of the convergence of two federal highways and two state highways whose traffic directly effects the historic district.
As far as experiencing the streetscape as it exists, side spaces between buildings should be clear and clean. Any visible off-sidewalk landscaping, such as retaining and barrier walls, should be constructed of traditional materials; brick or stone and not railroad ties. Plant material should be obviously planned and maintained if visible from the street. In the historic business district trees should be located and/or maintained so they do not directly block store signage.
"Street furniture" is encouraged, provided such items are compatible with the character of the district. All such furniture should be either "period" or simple, modern in
design, constructed for long term outside use and be safe.
designated as a landmark of the Town, has recorded as part
of its significance
that it served as a
gathering place for
learning.
But every side
street in the village
of Saugerties
shows a house that
is obviously
influenced by the
period of
gentrification
between the 1890's
and the 1920's.
Preservation of
these unique
structures is key to
preserving the
character and
history of this
period of
Saugerties.
Page number 43 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The Pre-Civil War brick Whitaker Block is the predecessor to the Russell Block on the corner of Market street and other wide front, multi business buildings and department stores of the Golden Age of merchandising.
With architect-designed “Blocks” attracting customers from the newer styled estate and townhouses, by the turn of the century shopkeepers began to place cast iron Mesker and less expensive press tin facades on buildings that hid the massive iron framing needed for full glass street level show windows.
Guidelines for Signs
Signs are more regulated in local zoning law than they are in preservation law. In the main, the zoning deals with specifics of size, placement, visibility and permanency; measurable and enforceable through fines. No one should plan, or contract with a sign maker, to make a new or replacement sign without getting a sign application approved from the Building Department of the municipality where the sign will be erected. The sections of the Village and Town zoning codes on signs are included in the Appendix.
The Building Inspector deals with the measurable side of a sign application; the particulars of supports, coverage of walls and windows, illumination and the mechanics, glare or number of neon signs; all firmly stated in the zoning laws. The Village Building Inspector is responsible for this both within the historic business district and in all other districts in the Village. The Town Building Inspector is responsible for them in the Town.
In the districts of the Village zoned "historic" a separate application for a Certificate of Appropriateness (CofA)is required from the Historic District Review Board. This is for approval of the aesthetic elements of a sign. A decision is made based on the appropriateness of the sign's colors, scale, style and graphic representation. The CofA decision deals more with the subject of the sign. It is required ahead of the Building Department's review for all sign applications within the historic districts. The professionals that sit on the Historic Review Board often advise the applicant on issues related to the Building Department's interest in order to expedite that review.
The specific need for a Certificate of Appropriateness for signs within the historic business district of the Village has over the years made these signs a perfect subject for guidelines that support the overall fabric of graphic signage in the whole town and village. Appropriately designed signage helps attract business. The historic character of Saugerties is one thing that sets it apart from countless other places. The historic business district is the business center of "Historic Saugerties". Especially here, a sign for an establishment is part of the total promotion of the "Historic Saugerties" image that attracts business patrons to all of Saugerties. What is appropriate here is appropriate for signage in general.
The period theme of the historic business district is broadly placed. Between the 1870's and the 1920's there is ample photographic documentation of businesses in the buildings of Saugerties Village and in the country in general. Any type, design or image style common to this span of time is a good source of inspiration for a sign. Regardless of the theme of the business, graphics invoking earlier periods such as would be used in Nantucket or Plymouth would be inappropriate as would something totally contemporary.
Samples and descriptions of a proposed sign's colors and method of application that shows how the design meets the size and material restrictions of the sign code, is what must be submitted to the Review Board for a CofA to be discussed. If possible a photo montage showing the scale of the sign to the building itself should be submitted. All commercial sign makers provide such a computer image to their customers now.
For the review board the following general instructions apply to signs:
!The horizontal signboard on the fascia below the lower cornice of the historic storefront should always be
Page number 44Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
used for the sign if it is part of the architecture. Wall signs not placed in this area cannot be placed where they obscure any architectural element or window.
!Projected signs should be similarly styled and proportionate to neighboring signs. Their height, maximum dimension and distance from the street is governed by the zoning code for signs (see Appendix)
!If just a symbol is used to represent the business; a large scissors for a barber or a large boot for a shoe store; or a permanent sidewalk display of a traditional
symbolic item; an Indian to signify a tobacco store or a barber pole for that business; this is considered part of the signage area and is appropriate so long as the scale meets the restrictions of the sign code and the object is compatible with the theme of the district in the opinion of the Historic Review Board.
!The respective zoning codes should be consulted for the different allowable signage requirements in the different zoned districts of the Town and Village.
!For the historic districts the calculation is that for every linear foot of individual frontage of a store a total sign area of one and a half square feet is allowed. That means ten feet in width allows fifteen square feet in sign space.
!The proprietor of a store seeking a CofA must make certain that there is area left over in this calculation for minor signs that may be needed later. Also, lettering on awnings and window appliqués count as sign area. The signage for an average store applying for a CofA will fill an allowable 30 square feet with a hanging sign of 12 sq. ft., a window graphic on the main pane of 10 sq. ft., and a door number and awning valance band of 5 sq. ft.
!The only areas of the awning appropriate for lettering are the valance side flaps and banner front. The name of the business, street number or business slogan are commonly found in these areas. This lettering counts toward the allowable square footage of signage for the store frontage.
!Glass-applied window graphics in white stand out against a store interior and attract attention to the interior display. A window-applied sign should be no larger than 25% of the total pane size. It is important to recognize the purpose of the display window and design the sign to be airy enough to not distract from the merchandise within.
!Window signs that are not permanently affixed are regulated by the zoning law. The Review Board prefers that visibility through windows in the business district be as clear and open as possible. Beyond a permanent window graphic no more than 15% of any single pane of glass should be blocked. No more than two temporary signs are recommended per door or window and no more than two for the whole business.
!A sandwich board is a temporary sign that does not count toward the allowable square footage for signs. The maximum allowable sandwich board by code, however, is 9 sq. ft. and its maximum height is four feet. Sandwich boards must be placed inside when the store is closed.
!The sandwich board message must be permanently applied
Page number 45 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
There are eighty five structures listed in the Main and Partition Streets National Register historic district and each is, in addition to a period structure, a store front, with some buildings having multiple businesses. The signs on the preceding page and this one each had to receive a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Village of Saugerties Historic District Review Board before it could be added to a designated historic landmark in the business district.
to a durable surface and its design approved and have a CofA. Blackboard paint in an approved border that includes a permanent message header is an appropriate device for menus or special promotions. Tack spaces and taped paper are inappropriate uses of sandwich boards.
!Temporary signs and banners used for special, short term promotions and only displayed during the business day are appropriate in the town in general provided they match zoning restrictions, and in the business district if they do not interfere with pedestrian or vehicular traffic, do not obstruct the permanent signage for the business or its neighbors and do not cover the historic fabric of the store or its neighbor.
!Free standing signs are only appropriate for stores in the business district with a set back. In most other sign applications around the town free standing signs are restricted by zoning in size and height. It is recommended they match the period of the structure they are supporting and be as sensitive as possible to the overall historical theme of the Town.
!Boards containing directories of multiple businesses in the same building; as in upper floor offices or in divisions of a mall; should be placed as close to eye level as possible and match the same size, height and placement restrictions as similar areas of signage for the zone they are in.
!The area of signage for upper floor business directories visible from the street counts toward the overall allowable signage area of the building.
!The faded signs on the sides of buildings that are in some cases over a hundred years old are landmark signs. It is inappropriate to either remove, obscure, or restore these landmark signs. It is inappropriate to place a new sign directly on the side or material of a building, regardless of the size or purpose.
The following guidelines can help in designing an appropriate sign for the historic district:
!In the design the name of the establishment is the principle size element of the sign. Business logos should equal no more than 25% of the name element's size. All the identity graphics together should occupy no more than 60% of the sign board. An outline or edging of the signboard or decorative framing or corner work is encouraged in all designs.
!The sign lettering appropriate for the historic business district is a serif style. A good designer can work within this style and still create a unique business signature.
!It is considered good design sense to limit a sign to three colors. In the historic business district the colors should be chosen to coordinate with other signs on the street and with the paint scheme of the building the sign is on.
!Dark color backgrounds with light color lettering and accents are recommended to make the sign stand out from the ornateness of the long line of building fronts on the street
!Metal leaf is appropriate for signs in the historic district. Fluorescent colors and colors that "glow" are inappropriate. Lighting should illuminate the total sign form and not accent or spotlight a single area.
!All lighting should be concealed in molding or within a hood. Sign illumination sources must not spill light to
Page number 46Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Village featured on lower right corner of Tilson and Brink 1853 map of Ulster county
Village featured preeminently on center of left side of French’s1858 map of Ulster county
Village map engraved nearly this same size by Leon Barritt for the final issue of The Pearl, 1875
he middle of these three rare maps lists all the T
business operations within the Village of Saugerties when these maps were made. In the third quarter of the nineteenth century Saugerties Village was the largest population center and the highest capitalized community in the region. These maps herald in the era that built the historic buildings of the village.
336.988
X
8223
Main St.9227
Main St.
10237
Main St.11243
Main St.12249
Main St.13251-257
Main St.
14250-261
Main St.
15265
Main St.
1627
Market St.
1731
Market St.
1831
Market St.
1948-50
Market St.
2038
Market St.
2124
Market St.
2218
Market St.
2312
Market St.
24317
Main St.
25319
Main St.
26321
Main St.
271
W. Bridge St.
28310-312
Main St.
29294
Main St.
30282
Main St.
31284
Main St.
35258-260
Main St.34262
Main St.33264
Main St.32268-272
Main St.
36252
Main St.
37248-250
Main St.
38244
Main St.
39236-240
Main St.
40232-234
Main St.
41228
Main St.
42220
Main St.
43216
Main St.
1173
Main St.
2191
Main St.
4195
Main St.
5211
Main St.
6215
Main St.
7217
Main St.
3John St.
4480-86
Partition St.
4588-90
Partition St.
4692
Partition St.
5298
Partition St.47
9
Jane St.4811
Jane St.
5015
Jane St.
49
Main Street (Rt. 3
2)
Main Street (R
t. 9W)
Division Str
eet
Myn
derse
Street
Ma
lde
n A
ven
ue
(Rt. 9
W)
Main Street
Main Street
Livingston Street
Ulster Avenue (Rt. 32 & Rt. 212)
Lafayette Street
Brinnier Street
Virginia Avenue
Brin
nie
r C
ourt
Irving Place
John Stre
et
Jane Street
Russell S
treet
Post Street
Dock Street
Latham Circle
Lighth
ouse
Drive
Lighthouse Drive
McD
ona
ld Stre
et
Alle
n Stre
et
Clermont Street
Saw
yer La
ne
Montgomery Street
Montross Street
Hilton Place
Partiti
on
Stre
et (R
T. 3
2 &
Rt. 9
W)
An
n S
tre
et (C
an
al S
t.)
Ann S
tre
et
Rip
ley
Stre
et
Beach
Stre
et
Valle
y St
reet
Burt S
treet
The
od
ore
Pla
ce
Beckley Street
Underw
ood Stre
et
East Bridge Street
Ferry Street
Barclay Street
Barclay Street (RT. 32 & Rt. 9W)
Trinity Place
Meadow Court
Overbaugh Street
Sim
mons
Stre
etBurt S
treet (R
T. 3
2 &
Rt. 9
W)
Churc
h S
treet (R
T. 3
2 &
Rt. 9
W)
Hill Street (RT. 32 & Rt. 9W)
Mill Stre
et
Washburn Terra
ce
Esopus Drive
Oa
kle
dg
e B
oule
vard
Oakled
ge Pa
rk
Re
ed
Pla
ce
Ma
rke
t St
ree
t (R
t. 3
2)
Ma
rke
t St
ree
t
Jam
es
Stre
et
West
Brid
ge S
treet
Firs
t St
reet
Cro
ss S
tre
et
Tee
tse
l Stre
et
Cole
Pla
ce
Myer Lane
No
rth S
tre
et
Hig
h S
tre
et
Eliza
beth St
reet
Elm
Stre
et
Second
Street
Partitio
n Stre
et (R
t. 32 &
9W
)
Partitio
n Stre
et
Treis Te
rrac
e
Robinson Street
Prospect Street
Finger Street
Finger Street
Sawyerkill Terrace
Dawes Street
Wa
shin
gto
n A
venue
Ced
ar Stre
et
Cente
r Street
Willia
ms Stre
etWa
rren Pla
ce
Mill La
ne
Mill Lane Extension
Bennett A
venue
Gurth
Lane
Willow Lane
Wa
shin
gto
n A
venue
51
53102
Partition St.
54104-106
Partition St.
55 56110-114
Partition St.
57116-122
Partition St.
58124
Partition St.
59130
Partition St.
60138
Partition St.
61150
Partition St.
62156
Partition St.
63160
Partition St.
64139
Partition St.
65Russell St.
66133
Partition St.
67131
Partition St.
68129
Partition St.
69117
Partition St.
70115
Partition St.
71103
Partition St.
72103
Partition St.
73101
Partition St.
7497
Partition St.
7592
Partition St.
7683
Partition St.
7781
Partition St.
7865
Partition St.
7965
Partition St.
80200
Main St.
81196
Main St.
82190
Main St.
83184
Main St.
Kiersted 1858 Street SurveyMeales & Hayes set point190’ from corner of Janesouth along W. Bridge street
RE
VI
R
NO
SD
UH
National Register Historic Business District
other parts of the building or site or produces a distracting glare to motorists and pedestrians.
!Back lit signs are prohibited in the historic business district. Neon is limited to window displays only, must be no larger then 2 square feet in area and must be off when the business is closed. No blinking or marquee motion signs are permitted in the business district. Establishments with liquor licenses may have one approved neon display of a maximum 2 square feet per each main pane of its storefront.
!Plastic signboards and vacuum form signs are inappropriate. Faux-carved signs are inappropriate. Formed or cast letters are appropriate provided they do not extend more than six inches from the signboard. Signboards must be of a durable grade marine quality plywood or of a similar weather resistant material.
!Metal framing and hangers for signs and hardware are best painted or anodized a matte black color or be of a natural black material.
Guidelines for Light Fixtures
The theme of a business district and village setting assumes lighting and light fixtures. Saugerties had electricity at an early period but it appears there was little need for lighting up the night. The street photos from the 1905 "picturesque Ulster" show only three lamp posts in all the pictures and they appear to be still using gas. Many outdoor light fixtures are available designed for this appearance or for the large globe bulbs common for giving the early electrification look.
Correct use of outdoor lighting requires spacing lights to give an even coverage of a street or residential landscape setting by illuminating the ground only as far as the next area of light and spreading the light no higher than what is necessary for ground-level visibility. Light that reaches higher by direction or reflection has an inappropriate glare.
It is neighborly to extinguish outdoor lighting when not in use. Only exterior lighting designed specifically for night time safety and security of pedestrians, on public streets, should be always lit. It is inappropriate for a business property that is closed to have its signage and window displays lit.
Page number 47 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Drawing of Clovelea that first appeared in the New York World in 1889
Digital reconstruction of Clovelea by architect Scott Harrison
Clovelea is a locally designated
landmark of the Village of Saugerties
GUIDELINES FOR THE OPUS 40 MODEL(for a glossary of terms go to the end of this section.)
These guidelines for preservation of historic landscapes are concerned with the "eye-level" character of Saugerties visible from its heritage byways. They use as a reference the National Register site Opus 40 and the many historic dry laid stone elements and quarry settings of the town. The goal is to establish the physical and scenic integrity of historic stone features, and the adaptive reuse of bluestone that are visible from the roads, village streets and waterside of Saugerties.
Views, plantings, furnishings (fences, lamp posts, refuge containers, mailboxes, postings, etc.), walkway orientation, and other landscape topics along with bluestone's architectural uses have been covered in the guidelines in each of the previous three sections. This section's guidelines have the specific purpose of reinforcing the broad concept of heritage landscape identity rather than being concerned with issues of individual period property preservation.
Guidelines for recognizing the historic significance of land
In order to raise the awareness and respect for the local historic landscape, it is important that our educators and public employees be knowledgeable about it. Fortunately, targeted overviews of local culture, history, and environment statements are part of public improvement projects, planning initiatives or academic curriculums. Thus every publicly financed activity can use this community benefit as its justification.
The following guidelines put these basic understandings of the historic landscape in perspective for the public and for public servants and outsiders that may be contracted to perform work upon the historic landscape of Saugerties.
Guidelines for Waterfronts
Local preservation of both the historically significant viewshed of the Hudson River and the Saugerties waterfront is important to the region, state, and nation. All of the Saugerties shoreline is designated and is contained within the boundaries of the Ulster North and the northern extent of the Estate District Scenic Areas of Statewide Significance (SASS). This 1993 designated area extends a mile and a half on average inland along ten miles of the west shore and from the high water mark on the west shore to about a mile inland on the east side of the River.
The Saugerties' landscape is a focal point when viewed from Clermont, Montgomery Place, the Amtrak passenger line, and from boats on the river. While an ever expanding kayak and small craft boating public take advantage of the Saugerties waterfront and shoreline, attractions such as the Glunt Nature Preserve leading to the Saugerties Lighthouse offer overland access to these views. The nature trail between Glasco and Barclay Heights on the Dominican Sister's property, public access sites for boaters at Glasco and Malden mini waterfront parks, and the village waterfront park, as well as undeveloped State park grounds at Bristol Beach, Eves Point and Turkey Point, all give visual as well as physical access to the Hudson River. Additionally,
he three previous sections covered designed and
vernacular buildings from the colonial, early Tindustrial and mercantile periods. Their guidelines
related to preserving the style and material integrity of
architectural elements that remind us of the significant
periods of Saugerties history. The settings of these structures,
as part of the visual history of the town and village, dealt
with elements that contribute to the preservable landscape
characteristics of those particular periods. However, there is
much in the village and rural landscape of Saugerties that is
not architectural in form that equally conveys the message of
our significant heritage.
Saugerties is rich in the durable remains of water powered
mills, large stock farms, river front and railroad side
commerce, recreational and resort attractions, and its
ubiquitous bluestone quarries. These catch the eye as curious
ruins and unusual landforms in the rural landscape and are
echoed by similar curiosities embed in the streets and
forgotten corners of the urban
village. It is just as much due to the
individual respect and care for the
retention of these historic landscape
elements as it is to the preserved
period homes and business
structures, that we owe our common
pride in this community's heritage.
Saugerties is actually one large
archaeological site. A keen eye can
Page number 48Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The Barclay Pond with the Hudson River in the background in the 1950’s before the open farmland of Barclay Heights was made into residential subdivisions and while the mills were still in operation.
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The Historic Landscape of Saugerties
The open fields of the Winston Farm were cultivated as an Indian plantation before 1684 and remained as open in 1994 for the 25th Anniversary of the Woodstock Festival as in this 1954 aerial photo, and look the same to this day.
access to the Esopus Creek via the Barclay Pond Village beach gives kayakers a level, wide, and placid three mile long inland waterway with scenery that actually attracted interest far before the Hudson River School of painters famously took note of the rest of our scenic wonders.
Policy 24 guidelines of the Federal Coastal Management Act that are specific to scenic resources apply to this entire waterfront area. These guidelines state, among other considerations, that: 1. Dredging, filling or bulkheading in the tidal waters of the Hudson River is restricted; 2. new highways, power lines, and signs cannot be placed within the view shed; 3. existing patterns of vegetation must be planned to screen new construction and that development must be clustered to fit into the screened area; 4. visible elements of the cultural landscape must remain and be kept in their original scale in proportion to the natural landscape; 5. removal or clear cutting vegetation that screens otherwise discordant features from view is inappropriate; and 6. blocking a view of either the river or mountains from a public thoroughfare in the scenic corridor with a structure or plantings is discouraged.
While preserving the beauty of this scenery is our responsibility so also are the historical structures within these settings, which perhaps are of greater importance because of their identification with our past. It is highly recommended that any ruin or ancient pilings, docks or anchorage be retained, maintained, and kept
visible. Features pointed out as significant in the SASS designation such as open grounds of estate properties, the pattern and scale of hamlet houses, and the wall of industrial ruins along the Esopus should be kept groomed and clear of screening. Landmarks such as chimneys and wharves that appear on navigation charts need special attention.
It is important that not only the public but particularly real estate developers recognize the effects dissonant elements would have on our scenic viewshed. The discordant nature of the sewage treatment plant and the storage buildings at Glasco that sit directly on the river bank are the only ones mentioned negatively in the SASS designation for over ten miles of
coastal area boundary.
Prospective property developers should plan accordingly so that no modification or damage is done to the geological forms, vegetation or structures that are significant to the scenic quality of this designated resource. Fortunately, no impairment of a view in this Significant Area of Statewide Significance is permitted under law.
Guidelines for Settings
Saugerties is within the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area (NHA). Be it private landscapes as they are viewed from public vantage points, or public spaces, whether parks or the village streets, these are our venues for experiencing the "sense of place" of Saugerties. Landmarks such as stone walls are the boundary demarcation elements of this long settled landscape and are highly emblematic of its development. Likewise, the backdrop of highly visible quarries, water routes, and overland transportation roads are milieus identifiable with its economic heritage. Preservation of these significant settings conveys the impression of a community proud of its heritage and is the purpose of this section of guidelines.
The geometry of a landscape is a pattern of open spaces and the enclosures that divide them. The guidelines in previous sections of this manual have encouraged the retention and maintenance of perimeter markers such as traditional fences, like wrought iron for townhouses and pickets for dooryard gardens of cottages, and stone walls in rural settings. Where such boundary enclosures over time become lined with trees they become natural landscape features that should be maintained but not allowed to become
make out signs of man's past relationship to the land when
viewing the alterations in the present landscape be they:
roadbeds; building foundations; boundary walls; wharves;
dams; or, burial grounds. Centuries-old survey maps show
landmarks of that time that today are just seen as
“disturbances” in the land casually passed by every day, their
origins unknown, but just for that reason gaining our
attention.
History catches the eye along our roadsides because nearly
every road in Saugerties is historic, from the Kings Highway
of 1703, to the more recent
“Catskill Thruway” of 1951.
Our ancient roads and
streets were our
community's commercial
circulatory system along
which our historic
homesteads and clustered
service areas were built. All
our roads served as major
transport routes for the
products of colonial saw mills, nineteenth century quarries,
and the visitors to our turn-of-the-century – up through the
1940's – resorts, boarding houses, and art colonies. They've
seen a lot and reveal a lot.
The road courses themselves reveal Saugerties history. They
follow a characteristic pattern of stone walls that mark a
survey of lot lines laid out as right angle rectangles and
squares of twenty-four and sixty-six degree orientation. The
roads are vestiges of right-of-ways built into the deeds of
these hundreds of Kingston Commons lots. Kingston
Commons lots make up the entire western half of Saugerties
Page number 49 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The rock cut gate of Barclay’s canal at Jane Street was pictured inside a gate house in the Cultural Resources Survey for the East Bridge Street Force Main study in 1979. The house had been lost and the site covered in refuse for this 2008 photo. Today the gates too are gone and this 1825 early Industrial Revolution landmark is filled with quarry rubble.
overgrown or spread. An open space foreground bounded by mature vegetation to the side defines a view's perspective on distant scenery and is an attractive roadside setting that can be marred by an imbalance of overgrowth. We suggest that if the frontage on a road is tree lined and there is a distant view, a well maintained low fence wall, cropped vegetation and boughs trimmed to no less than normal eye level is appropriate for roadsides.
Because we place a high value on open space and vistas as contributing to our sense of place, it is our position that the screening of them, using either dense shrubbery or tall fencing, is highly inappropriate. Privacy screening placed within view of a roadway or street should only be in the distant back of properties where privacy is appropriate. For concealing refuse containers or utility boxes that must be accessible, the use of planned plantings is encouraged.
The two heritage public spaces of Saugerties were located for their views: Seamon Park for its high promontory; Cantine Field for the sense of wide open space that comes from its original farming use. Their use echoed the function of their setting: Seamon Park for views and most recently for gardens and paths through shady and open elevations; Cantine Field for accommodating crowds of spectators. Preservation of the feel of their original settings allows their history to be part of the contemporary experience.
In Saugerties, these flats that define Cantine Field extended from the Gat all the way to the Great Vly, flanked by the route 9W ridge and Canoe Hill and was open farmland throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The high school, the Kiwanis arena, HITS, and nearby minor housing developments over the past half century have impacted the openness of Cantine Field. These discordant elements might have been mitigated by allowing the built environment to scale itself to the line-of-sight expanses expected for these open flats. While we cannot mandate correcting prior development, future structures over one story in the park's viewshed are out of context with its traditional open setting and should not be approved. This same "open feel" applies to the viewshed from the Winston Farm's fields. The quality it possesses as a potential event venue should be considered in reviewing the design and scale of commercial development along Routes 212 and 32.
Seamon Park's distinction as the highest point on the banks of the Hudson River has lost the advantage of its views due to the maturing of trees that have grown about its slopes. Since its primary purpose was the attractions of that promontory, historic preservation for this public space would emphasize a return to its open views. As a noted tourist attraction Seamon Park might be an ideal location to introduce the concept of the historic landscape of Saugerties through a promotion of the cultural history of Seamon Park relative to its river viewshed.
The newest public park has one of the most significant historical settings. The Waterfront Park at the foot of East Bridge Street is a grassy embankment of earth spread over the remains of the demolished waterfront mills that once drove the economy of Saugerties. It is surrounded by a zoned historic overlay and is the centerpiece of a waterfront revitalization district that follows the SASS Esopus Creek subunit coastal area
and their boundary demarcations are all made of stone cleared
from each lot of land. These walls and roads mark a spacial
organization and character of a landscape planned as a grid in
the first decade of the nineteenth century that can be seen from
nearly every road and walking trail in Saugerties today.
Because of this old network of roads, transportation has
played a central role in the growth of Saugerties and it is from
the vistas of its roads that one can trace its historic
development all the way from the period when they connected
to sail and steam on the river, onward to railroad and interstate
highways. Each advancement has brought growth to the
enterprises of Saugerties and their stature in the context of the
broader history of the region and state. Indeed, it would not be
a stretch to say that the features that appear in the rural historic
landscape of the roadside and waterfront of Saugerties tell the
story of the growth of this nation.
Every road and street, and even the remnant roads in the
countryside, and nearly the whole of Saugerties' shoreline on
the Hudson river had their earliest improvements follow the
transport of bluestone. Bluestone quarrying provided the
largest livelihood of Saugerties for nearly a century. There are
signs of bluestone everywhere in
the landscape of Saugerties. Its
wharfs, foundations, retaining
and boundary walls and its
tombstones are bluestone. There
are quarries with natural looking
but manmade hills made of
Page number 50Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Seamon Park had begun to be overgrown in this 1964 aerial photograph as farm lands became residential subdivisions and the Schoonmaker house Dutch Barn was removed to place a gas station.
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The open flats of the historic Sawyerkill Patent area of the town in a late 1940’s areial photo where Cantine Field continues the same public access for recreation that went back to the post Civil War era.
boundary. Its viewshed has a restored 1888 mill building, the intact ruins on the original site of the 1826 Barclay paper mill, two of the only remaining 19th century steamboat warehouses left on the Hudson River, and the waters of a picturesque industrial harbor that has been documented, photographed and painted for close to two centuries. While views from the water are governed by the Policy 24 Coastal Management Act guidelines (referenced under "Waterfronts"), the public's awareness from land requires special attention. Historically this is an area developed for parallel docking and used as a turning point at the end of the Esopus shipping channel. It is recommended that the waterfront locations of heritage stone yards, ferry, steamboat and barge moorings identifiable in the many period photographs and other visuals be maintained. Recent expansion of moorage and floating docks with multiple berths extending into the viewshed is not historic to this setting. The demolition and removal of waterfront historical structures documented in the district surveys and the use of the resultant open space for parking of machinery and storage of unused and derelict watercraft is inappropriate under all existing guidelines.
Guidelines for Burial Grounds
Burial grounds, as elements of the rural historic landscape, are often the only remaining marker of a settlement,
community or ancient homestead. They attract, for example, visitors interested in tracing genealogy or wanting to experience the "environment" of old cemeteries. In Saugerties, a community that has headstones that date to Palatine arrivals of 1710-11 and which represent names that have become common in the greater population of the United States, local burial grounds have become destinations. By law, family members have a right to access the resting place of their ancestors and care for the grounds. Any deed to the land upon which a
burial ground exists excludes that earth and right-of-way to it from the normal property rights of the owner.
Large burial grounds are recognized as a "commons" of the community. Cemeteries that developed around churches and municipalities often were planned as contemplative landscapes and as such are often places visited by more than just the relatives of the deceased. Smaller burying grounds adjacent to roadsides are a part of the historic feel of the countryside and are available to be visited by those curious about history. Because of this easy public availability, the traditional function of maintenance and care of burial grounds speaks to the fundamental character of a community. It is appropriate to handle vandalism, litter, and overgrowth in burial grounds on private property, the same as if the cemetery grounds were public parks. They should be groomed as parks and policed as parks. This should be a routine maintenance and protection responsibility under the management of the respective departments of the Village and the Town of Saugerties.
Guidelines for Roads, Streets and Trails
In 1835, James Eights, fresh from a geological study of the Erie Canal in 1829 and the first scientific expedition of discovery organized by the U. S. government in 1831, did a groundbreaking geological study that followed a line from the Catskill peaks through the Glenerie breaks and on to the Hudson River below Glasco. He speculated from his observations that a catastrophic break and flood happened at Glenerie, draining what he called "Lake Albany" and that the resulting ancient, dry clay bed of the lake represented an ideal transportation corridor through Saugerties. His speculation was confirmed by railroads in the 1880's and, in the 1940's, the building in Saugerties of one of the first sections of the longest superhighway of its day; the New York State Thruway.
Saugerties has three east-west roads that date to the age of turnpikes and three north-south roads that all have interstate histories; the earliest of the three interstate roads, the Kings Highway, being the oldest in the United States and the New York State Thruway our youngest. Each of the six roads have regional,
bluestone as well as elegant sculptural environments made of
bluestone. Saugerties is world famous for the bluestone that
is here and that it shipped across the country.
Bluestone is in the abutments of long-gone covered bridges
we see when we cross our many waterways. Culverts of
bluestone still carry water under our roads. It covers wells
and drainage channels. It is our sidewalks and basement
floors. Bluestone forms the len
gth of the historic 1878 Long
Dock out into the Hudson
River and builds out the
shoreline occupied by the
many giant ice houses of a
century ago.
Bluestone’s association with
Saugerties’ roads begins in
1831 when it was transported
from Centerville to the banks
of the Esopus and made into
the supports for the first bridge
there. From that time on, it has
changed landforms both here
and abroad.
Bluestone is in nearly every
historic house that lines
Saugerties roads. Pieces of
bluestone not large enough to
be marketed as a sidewalk
slab, window or door lintel,
step or porch platform or curb or tram stone became the
finely crafted walls of foundations and boundary and
retaining walls. Bluestone was the most easily accessed local
Page number 51 Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The land form of Saugerties is what designers call an elegant solution. With routes through the Catskill escarpment just eight miles from tide water at the Hudson River and all the water resources of the mountains draining toward perfect mill sites it had everything needed to be a center of nineteenth century innovation and enterprise.
State or National historic significance either because of the precedents their creation set or the record created by their use over time.
The post-WWII building of the eight mile Thruway section between Saugerties Village and just south of Catskill was a "first" for many design, civil engineering, and landscape architectural innovations that became standard for all 480 miles of the Thruway and all interstate highways that followed. In just the four miles that this early section traversed within the Town of Saugerties, there are five overpass bridges, two interchanges, three waterway diversions. In addition, the paving process set the pace and methods of construction that are all now historic. It is important to remember that these accomplishments date back to the late 1940's. This section, which opened to traffic July 4, 1951, meets the age criteria for landmark status.
As much as the Thruway in Saugerties represents speed, the counterpoint on the rest of our roads is the retention of the pace associated with their long historic use. The curvilinear courses of the paved rural roads of Saugerties echo the many pathways that crisscrossed the countryside a century ago and are still marked on many maps as roads never improved for automobile traffic. Many of these are fragments used as private lanes and drives while others have been incorporated into residential developments. The latter's meandering feel probably influenced the design of the newer streets -- controlling the pace and circulation of traffic and making the placement of house settings feel more rural. It is because these new roads have limited sight distances, they necessitate slow speed limits, thus unintentionally calling attention to the historic landscape elements whether driving, cycling or walking past them. Our recommendation is that the berms of primary, secondary, and sub-development roadways be made broader when and where there are historic features that can attract attention.
Highway Department attention to the topography of road berms is encouraged. Close guardrails and sharp cuts into embankments are discouraged as is indiscriminate removal of trees in favor of utility lines. Roadside access ways are historically significant components of rural road use. Roadside landscape features such as plantings and stone retaining walls that convey the rural experience are encouraged to be retained or duplicated when new road projects are undertaken.
An awareness of the historic significance of road fragments and their backgrounds and the historic structural elements that remain is encouraged. When ancient road beds are used for drives or lanes a sympathetic approach to improvement through the use of traditional materials as well as hewing to the original course is encouraged. A century of use in the pre-automobile era may have required structures such as culverts, incline and slope retaining walls, and even early forms of paving such as tramway surfacing, many of which are now hidden in the natural landscape. These archaeological artifacts might be disturbed, covered over or replaced in current usage and as such we would highly recommend that there be consideration to either reclaiming or reconditioning them in lieu of replacement -- particularly where they are subjected to light residential traffic. For work done to the heritage routes of the Town, and to the streets of the Village, the Highway Departments are encouraged to consider preservation issues and provide basic civil archeology training for their personnel.
Additionally, recognition and recording of subterranean features that may be unearthed doing road work adds to our understanding of local history. The use of historic documents such as sewer, water and fire cistern maps is encouraged for any project undertaken in the streets of the village. Retention of heritage civil engineering is not always possible when updating or repairing infrastructure but the Commission and Review Board can help in evaluating, surveying, and recording any archaeological elements, especially when removal and replacement involves environmental impact issues in federally funded projects.
Guidelines for Sidewalks. Curbs and Tree Lawns
Sidewalks, curbs, and tree lawns are a part of the real estate of an individually owned village parcel but are viewed as common areas
building material. The dimensional “waste” stone abundant
at the quarries and free for the taking, was continually being
transported along the roads of Saugerties to be used for
every construction
purpose imaginable.
Everyone for over five
generations knew how
to build with bluestone.
The source of this
bluestone left true
landmarks; hundred foot high quarry walls and rubble
mounds that can be clearly identified on Google birds eye
aerial views. These form a vertical strip from the bottom to
the top of the town's
center on to the face of
the Catskill Mountains.
It is no mistake that the
orientation of the
Kingston Commons lots
and the roads they
birthed follows the
topography of bluestone
ledges to this rise of the Catskill escarpment at Saugerties.
Our archaeological remains from the period of bluestone
quarrying and transport are as permanent as the stone itself.
No matter how long ago the bridge was replaced or the wood
parts of the building fell down or the stone fenced farm field
or the quarry returned to forest, what was built from or
quarried into the stone remains. And every place these
curious forms of stone are visible, they draw the imagination
toward the history of Saugerties. Often Opus 40 is the image
that begins this evocation.
Opus 40 is the reason stone landscape elements attract
Page number 52Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
1930’s era diversion wall for the quarry drains at the Centerville cut, south side of Rt. 212.
West abutment for old Saugerties and Woodstock turnpike covered bridge over Plattekill, north side of Rt. 212
and, as such are shared with the public. Their proper care is not a municipal responsibility but it is generally subject to a use and upkeep ordinance.
Regarding Curbstones and sidewalks, they should never be made of, or be replaced by, modern, non-traditional materials. Saugerties has used native bluestone materials throughout its entire history, with village records of 1832 documenting the earliest application of specifications for bluestone sidewalks, curbing, and crosswalks for any municipality in the country. If a tree roots have lifted slabs, they must be mortised back or the slabs reoriented. For safety, sidewalks should be reset when any meeting of one slab to another is lifted more than a half inch. When resetting, the slab should be lifted toward, and vertically supported at, its curb side, and the new bed material sloped toward the curb so when it fans as the slab is lowered a drainage slope is maintained. Proper drainage prevents frost intrusion and slab movement. Sidewalk slabs should never cross drive or parking lot entries. Where sidewalks do cross a vehicular entry, brick should be used as a replacement and laid to the same level as the sidewalk. Vehicles should never be driven onto sidewalk slabs and the sidewalk slabs should always be separated from vehicular disturbance by a standard height curb. Most importantly, try to retain all historic bluestone sidewalks. If replacement is necessary, replace in-kind, utilizing local materials similar in appearance and composition to what is replaced.
Regarding curbs: The curbing along Saugerties streets has been pressed to below its standard height from years of automobile overrides. Since many of these ancient curbstones predated automobiles by a half century or more, local planners never anticipated this "abuse". As these stones have their tops pressed closer to street level, salt etches their fine seams and in some cases they have flaked. The integrity of the stone is normally good and so the curbing can be easily reset. To correct, we advise digging to the base of the first stone of a property frontage and prying it up to expose the base edge of the next length, and so on to the last, to remove the curbing. The base of the clean-edged trough left is then filled to the desired level with crushed stone and the curbing is then snugly returned to its previous place. Never use pebbles or run-of-bank material for fill as these products have a chemistry when wet that prevents bluestone from drying. This curb maintenance chore is the responsibility of every parcel owner in the village.
Side streets are historically designed with "tree lawns" for shade tree planting between the street curb and the pedestrian walkway. Additionally, the village's commercial district had tree lawns on which sign posts were also placed until streets were widened in the 1940's. Trees should not be taken down for the convenience of utilities or because they are a bother to the property owner. Keeping old trees in good health, planting replacement trees, and keeping tree lawns green is encouraged. As an important part of the historic land and streetscape, shade trees and trimmed tree
lawns are encouraged.
Guidelines for Historic Stone Structures
Stone walls are traditional boundary markers, and not, as most people think, containment structures. A stone wall is rarely over thigh high, thus any large scale stone structures are likely the remnant of a long forgotten function and should be identified and cataloged by the Commission or Review Board.
Stone walls are obvious enough to stand out on aerial photograph. Many are recorded on USGS topographic maps. The local stone walls that are a pastoral form of boundary marker should be recorded particularly if they delineate ancient boundary lines such as the lot divisions of the Kingston Commons. Ones that are old markers of property lines are likely the same ones in a deed or survey map of a hundred years ago, so should never be removed or moved. New stone walls placed along the edge of a designed landscape create a
logical, poetic and picturesque element and, as a separation from a neighbor in a residential setting, are traditionally respectful. As such, they are encouraged as a new structure that emulates an
attention in Saugerties. What Opus 40 has accomplished
with bluestone makes every other built stone form as iconic
of Saugerties as a “hex sign” is of the Amish region of
Pennsylvania.
Opus 40 is internationally recognized as a work of art and is
the model for heritage art, culture, and landscape
appreciation for all that aspire to this artistry in and out of
Saugerties. Whereas this popular acclaim culminated in its
1998 designation as a State and National Historic landmark,
rare for a modern landscape artwork, locally, Opus 40 is
celebrated as part of a tradition. Its creator, the sculptor
Harvey Fite, also built his studio house, and a museum
building to hold his collection of tools and household
artifacts of the quarrying era, out of native materials -- just
as many of his High Woods neighbors had. The location of
Opus 40 is central to where a half dozen roads converge in a
community that was a center of rural life when Fite arrived
in the 1930's. The entrance to Opus 40 retains the same
narrow road width it had
when it continued on to
service dozens more quarry
sites still operated by his
neighbors in these waning
years of the bluestone era.
Studies have been done
concerning the care of Opus
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53Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
The ruins of the mill pictured in the 1880’s on page 21 has the stone walls of the original mill of 1826 with their drive wheel sluiceway openings intact. This abandoned site is an archaeological treasure of the early Industrial Revolution.
At the site of nearly every quarry the forest has reclaimed can be found wind shelter hunting blinds of stacked rubble left from over a hundred years ago.
historic function. An old stone boundary wall with sections that have settled should be repaired by rebuilding. First, digitally record the faces, then disassembling the section, reform the foundation layer and finally replace the original stone restored as close as possible to the pattern, color and texture to what was digitally recorded. Structures that have been subjected to shatters from tree-falls or other collusions or are broken for underground utility installations should strive to be returned to the same texture, color and pattern as before the damage. Structures subjected to backfill or a buildup of natural litter over time should either have the earth and/or litter hoed back and removed or, if the intrusion has changed the entire level of the land for the full length of the wall, be systematically rebuilt using the same procedure as if the whole wall had settled. The stone color, texture and pattern of a heritage wall are qualities that should be retained. Never add to the height of an ancient wall with new material, use new material for face repair, or repair a dry laid wall with mortar.
Whether a heritage stone structure (as distinct from a stone wall) is in a ruin or is still supporting a road or culvert its placement and purpose is of great historic significance. Ruins are often the center of a scenic attraction. The ruins of the mills and waterworks of past centuries and the structures of bridge supports, road bank supports, and culverts all applied bluestone for their construction even before there was a quarrying industry. Their protection permits an invaluable window into the past and their visibility along road and water routes emphasizes and encourages the value curiosity plays in community identity.
Historic stone structures laid for retaining or support are often architectural or engineering artifacts and were built to specifications well documented during their construction. These "old" methods of construction and the type of material to be used are broadly available and if followed today assure a longer life and continued functionality of the structure then a similar application of a more contemporary material and construction techniques offer. When large trees are integrated into the scenery close to the wall of a ruin the pressure from roots may cause bulging of the wall but in all probability they've been growing long enough to already be directed away from the mass of the wall. Trees just beginning to grow out of the wall or near its edge should be removed. No tree should be allowed to develop a firm footing within six feet of a presently functional earth supporting stone structure. No stone structure related to such an identifiable historic function as suggested by this guideline should be demolished, disassembled for reuse of its building materials or intruded upon by modern development.
As important as the historic stone walls or stone structures, are the bluestone quarries. They serve as a form of interpretive landscape demonstrating how operating quarries were workplaces where products were prepared for an international market for over a century. Maintaining a safe way to encounter these historic industrial and civil engineering archaeological sites is in the public interest. Likewise, the mounds and backfills of heritage quarries all vary in the quality of material they offer and this material should not be considered as mined when applied constructively. These mounds are being recycled and the building potential of this material should never be degraded by industrially processing it into chips as a form of recycling. Additionally the use of it as land fill is highly discouraged. There are standards for the quality of bluestone that cover its color, density, structure and chemical resistance as a historic material and local business activity for selecting material that meets these standards is encouraged. Quarrying, however, is recognized as a regulated activity and is not a subject of these guidelines. This guideline only references the local stockpile of rubble and its local use.
Tribute or heritage homage landscape environments featuring a new wall should apply only material from a local rubble source. If practical, weather-exposed stone from the surface of rubble mounds should be selected for wall faces. Random size stones add interest and an authentic character, as does irregular face, shape, and gap of the stone. Square-cut cap stones should be avoided unless the setting
40 that reference, for want of a
comparable example, the
protected man made environments
of ruins, scenic settings, and
public parks which include
roadway design and care of open
spaces. These studies all have
implications for the Saugerties’
environment of mountain trails and vistas, river kayaking
and shoreline vistas, winding motor routes and private
roadside places, and these studies form the basis of our
guidelines for preserving the rich archaeological
environment of Saugerties.
There are, of course, other lasting landscape elements of
stone that are not bluestone. Though bluestone predominated
once quarries opened after the 1830's, a hundred and fifty
years of building in landscape
settings took place before
that. An example of the
linkage of road, land form,
and community that is central
to the historic landscape of
Saugerties is the large level
Page number 54Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Harvey Fite’s Opus 40 began as a sculpture park. I toward Fite’s traditional art. In the end the park became the art and the internal views and entire six acre environment ( bottom) became the work of art. The quarry bed and walls exposed on the lower right side of the aerial photograph are what the quarry beds look like throughout the town.
(top) ts original design guided views
middle and
A wall at a pool in the Washburn Creek visible from Rt. 212 created by the author as part of a three-quarter acre sculptural reclaiming of an 1840s quarry reusing the rubble mounds that previously filled this stream.
emulates an estate character. Larger stones unevenly spaced are common as tops for native stone walls. These better survive the frost. A wall that is too tightly spaced and has too sheer a vertical face not only looks contrived but often heaves or slips from frost more noticeably then a looser laid wall.
Guidelines for Quarry Sculptures
Because of the influence of Opus 40, abandoned quarries that attract artistic interest are one of Saugerties' greatest cultural assets. John Beardsley, the preeminent scholar on contemporary land art, stated that Opus 40 "manifests... the desire to participate in the creative reclamation of landscape." These guidelines, based on studying Opus 40, address creative projects in heritage quarries and "backyard" aesthetic dry laid stone structures. Both fall under the general definition of the National Park Service as "cultural landscapes" based on their emulation of Opus 40. In Opus 40, one sees the subtractive process that has left a quarry with its own aesthetic and the additive process, where the sculptor returns material from that quarry to make the site a work of art. The Secretary's Standards for Rehabilitation, in a free interpretation of quarry sculptures as "additions necessary to the development of a compatible new use", ensure that the historic character of these properties is maintained. By that position, the Secretary's Standards recognize all bluestone quarry sites as local 19th century cultural assets and we treat them as such in these guidelines.
These guidelines for use of heritage quarries provides no encouragement to use quarry faces as surfaces for painting or carving but highly encourages sculptors to use the techniques of dry laid construction, for example by the Dry Stone Walling Association and other craft preservation organizations, to create durable structures that reuse historic materials residing on their property.
Basic to these recommendations are: clearing to a bedrock base before beginning any construction; using rubble material laid in the full volume of all constructions and not dump-filled between laid up faces; not using "blast" or waste hard pan as construction or fill material; eliminating trees and shrubs and the earth that supports them as well as discouraging all invasive growth from inclusion within dry laid forms; avoiding "facing" of a bedrock quarry wall with a façade of laid stone; and, never applying mortar.
In Saugerties a view of the original bedrock strata is always encouraged. This supplies an "interpretive geology" relationship to the art.
Recommendations:
1. Documentation of design, site preparation and work toward the finished sculpture should be kept as interpretative material useful for supporting future analysis and maintenance. In addition, the National Park Service recommends repeat photography to "interpret the nature, rate, and direction of change in a cultural landscape, to evaluate the cause(s) of perceived change, and to establish new photographic records for future analysis of change." This includes aerial photographs when possible. The archives of the Town of Saugerties Historic Preservation Commission are offered as a repository for this material.
2. The continuous observation of the natural, outdoor environment of quarry sculptures is recommended as a function of site management. Invasive growth, litter and damage associated with visitors should be annually assessed and mitigated.
3. It is recommended that copies of an annually updated management log and photo record (possibly created by the Historic Preservation Commission for designated land-art landmarks) be submitted.
4. Because Opus 40 and Harvey Fite, its creator, are the motivational forces for a school of quarry sculpture art, we would hope that all material that documents the sculptor's life, plans and the involvement of others while building Opus 40 should be archived and available for research. Further, as an example of best practices the Board of Opus 40, Inc. is encouraged to be an open and available source of information for future quarry sculptors by making available, for example, its various forms that assess its standardized maintenance procedures, maintenance plans, emergency plans, inspection processes, and professional advisors,
outcrop of limestone on the Kings Highway that the settlers
of the Palatine immigration chose as a central meeting place.
This was called the Kaatsbaan because it resembled a large
ball court (it has been told that the Indians actually used it
for their ball games). It is here that the first structure to be
only used for religious worship was built in Saugerties and
the large farming community that grew around it hosted the
first meeting of the town in this rural community setting
when it was formed in 1811.
Pre-European archaeological interest in rural historic farm
field and shoreline landscapes has uncovered stone of a
different sort. Tools and arrowheads show that a sizable
number of watercourses and natural meadows were hunted,
fished and cultivated here as far back as 14,000 BCE. These
ancient sites often occupied the same landscape as the
drainage canals made when vlys, or bogs, were converted
from grazing to cropping fields in the late 19th century and
account for the collections of prehistoric artifacts and
popular stories their discovery inspired then.
Most notable historically for the engineering interest they
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55Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Record of damage to sculpture under construction, August, 2011; restored in 2012. from Tropical Storm Irene
Record of damage to National Register historic sculpture Opus 40 in 2012; restoration projected for 2015
as well as sharing its experience with incorporation and other related issues.
We close this section by stressing that historical features or heritage landscapes located in the Town and Village of Saugerties that are visible from a public byway, whether it be the river, a town road or a village street, should be treated as a part of our historic identity and maintained with pride and care.
Glossary of local landscape terms
bank - A natural deposit of material, as in a clay bank or a sand bank; sometimes used in association with ownership, as in Cole Bank
berg - A hill or rise (Plantasie Berg, Hoogeberg)
binnewater - an oxbow of a kill left isolated after a closure but retaining the same water table as the main stream, remaining filled with water
bluffs - level rises of farm fields running parallel to the river forming as a glacial plateau (Saugerties Bluffs; Glasco Bluffs)
clove - A break in a ridge or the face of the mountain usually associated with a watercourse (Plattekill Clove; Kaaterskill Clove) and traditionally used for a road's incline to a higher level
cut - A quarry or a road directly through or inclined or stepped up a barrier ridge (Centerville cut)
drain - A ditch used to release trapped water in a depressed area such as a tidal marsh, a quarry zone, a sunken meadow or a vly (Quarryville drains)
flat - A shallow in the river that surfaces at low tide and is surrounded by deep channels (Green Flats; Middle Flats) or a level stretch of farmland between ridges (Saxton Flats)
gat - a valley or land lower then a surrounding level; a ravine (the Gat is the lower Partition street section of the village, often misspoken as "the gut")
kill - A steadily flowing stream or small river; the smallest kills are killitjes
long dock - Extension of a road from the shore to the channel of the river to facilitate ferry or deep watercraft access to land transportation
meadow - A low marshy area along the shoreline of the river or a woodland opening where bedrock is close to the surface, useful mainly for cattle grazing
mound - Waste material from quarrying deposited behind a quarry cut or at the base of a quarried ridge
parclo B2 - Designation for duel partial cloverleaf interchanges with two individual loop ramps used for entry and directional ramps used for exit
quay - A stone retaining wall adjacent the deep water at an estuary or river side used for parallel docking of large water craft
rack - A straight line-of-sight course for navigation on the river; also called a reach (Lang Rack, Bristol Reach); called a streak on land
reeks - Natural cliff falls or mounded rubble from quarrying
ridge - Small cliffs running parallel to the mountain face and river that direct the course of streams and roads and are the location of quarries
rift - Bedrock base in a stream channel that is a firm crossing place for a ford
streak - A straight line-of-sight road with no obstructions; called a reach or rack on the river
wall - A dry-laid stone boundary delineation or foundation; the "Great Wall of Maniteau" is the escarpment to the Catskill Mountains imagined as a wall
valletje - A filled oxbow or flood plain of a stream with high banks
vly - A natural spring-fed meadow where water is trapped between rock strata; a bog or swamp; many are called "great vly" (Myers Great Vly; The Great Vly)
garner are the built landforms of the waterworks, platforms
and wharfs made for the mills of Saugerties. All the
functional land changes for the mills of the 1820's entail
stone structures. Until 1858, when the stone dam across the
Esopus washed away, refrigerator-size blocks of cut stone,
still visible at the raceway wall, defined every location that
water was retained or directed for use by the mills. This
industrial archeology landscape is among the earliest
significant tidewater clusters of Early Industrial Revolution
landmarks in the entire mid Hudson region.
The focus of the mills on Saugerties' riverfront location
nearly two centuries ago is what attracted the present
intersection of three major state and federal highways, a
railroad and the New York State Thruway to be concentrated
in one small village and its immediate environs. All of these
roads followed the courses of ancient pathways turned
carriage roads and then made into some of the earliest
improved automobile routes. Every modern road in
Saugerties follows the courses of ancient pathways turned
carriage roads and then made into some of the earliest
improved automobile routes. Today's patterns of traffic
through the village follow the same courses that were
determined by fords and ferrying points used when the first
stone houses were built here in 1725. These roads and streets
and the miles of remnant roads in the countryside are all sites
of historic landscape archaeological interest.
Durable landscape environments that are publicly visible or
accessible offer the means for promoting heritage pride.
Every owner of one of these historical landforms in the town
and village of Saugerties plays a part in transmitting their
own particular view of history. With the use of responsible
preservation guidelines they lead by example thereby putting
our community's best foot forward.
Page number 56Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
Stone reservoir dam of Barclay’s 1825 waterworks visible in The Mill parking lot.
VILLAGE OF SAUGERTIES HISTORIC PRESERVATION SECTION OF THE ZONING LAW
§ 210-20. Historic districts. [Amended 10-20-1986 by L.L. No. 5-1986; 3-16-1987 by L.L. No. 2-1987]A. Purpose. It is hereby declared as a matter of public policy that the protection, enhancement and preservation of buildings of historic, architectural, and cultural value is necessary to promote the economic, cultural, educational, and general welfare of the public. Inasmuch as the identity of a people is founded on its past, and inasmuch as the Village of Saugerties has many significant historic, architectural, and cultural resources which constitute its heritage, this section is intended to:
(1) Protect and enhance the landmarks and historic districts which represent distinctive elements of Saugerties' historic, architectural, and cultural heritage;(2) Focus attention on and foster civic pride in the Village's historic resources;(3) Stabilize and improve property values in designated historic districts;(4) Protect and enhance the Village's attractiveness to visitors and the support and stimulus to the economy thereby provided; and(5) Strengthen the economy of the Village by preserving its historic assets and thereby ensure the harmonious, orderly, and efficient growth and development of the Village.
B. Historic District Review Board. (1) There is hereby created a Review Board to be known as the "Village of Saugerties Historic District Review Board."(2) Membership.
(a) The Review Board shall consist of five members to be appointed, to the extent available in the community, by the Mayor as follows:
[1] At least one shall be an architect or engineer; [2] At least one shall be an historian or member of the Saugerties Historical Society or a similar group concerned with preservation of the Village's heritage;[3] At least one person shall be a person with professional involvement in real estate or building construction or renovation; and[4] Two other residents of the Village.
(b) All members shall have a known interest in historic preservation and architectural development within the Village of Saugerties and shall take such steps as are practical to become better trained in these areas. The Mayor shall designate an appointee to fill any vacancies within 60 days of such position becoming vacant. Such appointee shall serve the balance of the unexpired term.
(3) Review Board members shall serve for a term of three years, with the exception of the initial terms which shall be one member for one year, two members for two years, and two members for three years.(4) The Chairman and Secretary of the Review Board shall be elected by and from among the members of the Review Board.(5) The powers of the Review Board shall include:
(a) Employment of staff and professional consultants as necessary to carry out the duties of the Review Board, with the prior approval of the Village Board.(b) Promulgation of rules and regulations as necessary for the conduct of business.(c) Adoption of criteria for the identification of significant historic, architectural, and cultural landmarks and for the delineation of historic districts additional to those stated in Subsection C below.(d) Conduct of surveys of significant historic, architectural, and cultural landmarks and historic districts within the Village.(e) Designation of identified structures or resources as landmarks and historic districts.(f) The making of recommendations to the Village government concerning the acquisition of facade easements or other interests in real property as necessary to carry out the purpose of this section; and with the approval of the Village Board, acceptance on behalf of the Village government of the donation of facade easements and development rights.(g) Increasing public awareness of the value of historic, cultural and architectural preservation by developing and participating in public education programs. The
n 2004, the Town Board of Saugerties passed a Historic Preservation Ordinance, Local Law No.3 of 2004; "An IOrdinance related to the establishment of landmarks or
historic districts in the Town of Saugerties". As part of the Historic Preservation Commission's Powers and Duties, Section 4A of that Law requires "Adoption of criteria for the identification of significant historic architectural, archaeological and cultural landmarks and for the delineation of historic districts."
In an effort to satisfy Section 4A, the Historic Preservation Commission has created the following document. It classifies Saugerties historical legacy into 20 categories. Each category represents a recognized and adopted criterion of Saugerties unique architectural, archeological and cultural landmarks.
ID CRITERIA 1. Roadways
The local turnpikes and public roads are rich in historic fabric. They are among the earliest and longest in use in the state. During a major improvement program of the 1930's which among other improvements straightened parts of the Malden and Saugerties & Woodstock turnpikes, and other roadbeds, there were many sections that were bypassed ,e.g., "Old 212" and "Old 32", or abandoned to be annexed to adjacent property. Those sections left Saugerties with the remains of early road construction and engineered infrastructure rarely preserved. These sections are historic because they were the earliest "tram" roads, built for transport of bluestone from the local quarries and later were the earliest macadam-surfaced roads in the state. Remains visible at the many stream crossings and drainage culverts of these ancient roads are historically significant.
2. Commercial Buildings on Roads
All our roads have historical significance as links to places where work occurred. The blacksmiths and feed stores and rest stops at crossroads and stream crossings represent some of the oldest local businesses. These businesses were responsible for the upkeep of the road and bridges that brought customers to their doors. Nearly 120 miles of roads were already in use by 1811 when the town was formed. Some stone house business locations date from as early as the middle of the eighteenth
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A P P E N D I X
members of the Board may attend programs which further the education regarding renovation and historic preservation.(h) Making recommendations to Village government concerning the utilization of state, federal or private funds to promote the preservation of landmarks and historic districts within the Village.(i) Making recommendations to the Village Board concerning the modification or deletion of existing historic districts.(j) Approval or disapproval of applications for certificates of appropriateness pursuant to this section.
(6) The Review Board shall meet monthly, but meetings may be held at any time on the written request of any two of the Review Board members or on the call of the Chairman or the Mayor. There shall be at least four meetings per year.(7) A quorum for the transaction of business shall consist of three of the Review Board's members, but not less than a majority of the full authorized membership may grant or deny a certificate of appropriateness.(8) All meetings shall be open to the public.
C. Designation of landmarks or historic districts. (1) The Review Board may designate an individual property as a landmark if it:
(a) Possesses special character or historic or aesthetic interest or value as part of the cultural, political, economic or social history of the locality, region, state or nation; or(b) Is identified with historic personages; or (c) Embodies the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style; or (d) Is the work of a designer whose work has significantly influenced an age; or(e) Because of a unique location or singular physical characteristic, represents an established and familiar visual feature of the neighborhood.
(2) Districts.(a) The Review Board may designate a group of properties as an historic district if it:
[1] Contains properties which meet one or more of the criteria for designation of a landmark; and[2] By reason of possessing such qualities, it constitutes a distinct section of the Village, even though not all of the buildings within the proposed district meet one or more of the criteria for designation of a landmark.
(b) The boundaries of each historic district designated henceforth shall be specified in detail and shall be filed, in writing, in the Village Clerk's office for public inspection.
(3) An owner may petition the Review Board for designation of property as a landmark or for inclusion in an historic district. If the owner has not petitioned the Review Board for designation of the property as a landmark or for inclusion in an historic district, notice of a proposed designation shall be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the owner as listed on the Village tax rolls of the property proposed for designation. The notice shall describe the property proposed and announce a public hearing by the Review Board to consider the designation. Once the Review Board has issued notice of a proposed designation, no building permits shall be issued by the Building Inspector until the Review Board has made its decision.(4) The Review Board shall hold a public hearing prior to designation of any landmark or historic district. The Review Board, owners, and any interested parties may present documentary evidence at the hearing which will become part of a record regarding the historic, architectural, or cultural importance of the proposed landmark or historic district. The record shall include the application and any subsequent modifications. The record may also contain staff reports, public comment, or other evidence offered outside of the hearing. If the applicant desires a stenographic transcript of the testimony taken at such hearing, it shall be the responsibility of the applicant to arrange for the presence of the stenographer and to bear the cost of such expense.(5) The Review Board shall approve, deny, or approve the designation with modification within 45 days from its receipt of the completed application. The first such public hearing on an application must be held within 45 days from the date of receipt of the completed application, in which case the
century and their owners were the leading citizens and politicians of the era.
3. Agricultural Sites on Roads
Cultivated land, ancient barns and many stone farmhouses line our roads. They are reminders of the original working character of the land. These farms, for two and one-half centuries fed the local population whether they were village businesses or later workers in the mills, the quarries and the river. Only in the past fifty years have most of those fields returned to forest, their identities as pasture or farmland noticed only in stone walls in the overgrowth.
4. Stone Walls
An 1803 survey divided the previous Kingston Commons ownership of most of the local land into a geometric grid of hundreds of lots. This document's effect is marked on the ground by hundreds of stone walls in the countryside. These define the corners and directions of that 1803 survey and are thus significant historically. Fortunately, some of these stone walls are visible along our roads and are excellent reminders of our heritage environment. They endure because not only are they shared property markers but specific provisions in the State Education law protects them from being moved or removed.
5. Estate Settings
In the beginning the largest parcels of land were owned by related families cooperatively farming. As agriculture became less profitable, the land went through division.The first divisions were for bluestone quarrying and other specialized uses on marginally tillable land. Countering subdivisions, tracts were sometimes bought and joined back together by the wealthy to establish farms as scenic environments. These late nineteenth and early twentieth century period of consolidations are historically significant because records of land transactions allow us to verify past ownership and occupancy.
6. Industrial Sites
The village of Saugerties is the site of some of the earliest Industrial Revolution manufacturing in the Hudson Valley. These industries are historical because they were the first to introduce many technologies into America, such as the first machine produced paper. These innovations attracted many entrepreneures who
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Review Board shall approve, deny, or approve the permit with modifications within five days of the completion of the public hearing or hearings.(6) The Historic District Review Board shall notify the Village Clerk of any building designated as a landmark or area designated as an historic district. The Village Clerk shall then cause the Official Zoning Map to be amended to reflect such designation, as provided in § 210-10 of this chapter.
D. Certificate of appropriateness for alteration, demolition or new construction affecting landmarks or historic districts.
(1) No person shall carry out any exterior alteration, restoration, reconstruction, demolition, new construction or moving of a landmark or property within an historic district, nor shall any person make any material change in the appearance of such a property, its light fixtures, signs, sidewalks, fences, steps, paving or other exterior elements visible from a public street or alley which affect the appearance and cohesiveness of the historic district, without first obtaining a certificate of appropriateness from the Historic District Review Board.(2) The Village Building Inspector shall be responsible for administering and maintaining records of the applications for a certificate of appropriateness, whether or not they are accompanied by an application for a building permit. The Village Building Inspector shall have the same enforcement capability with respect to a certificate of appropriateness that the Inspector may exercise with respect to a building permit.
E. Criteria for approval of a certificate of appropriateness. [Amended 5-2-1988 by L.L. No. 1-1988]
(1) Criteria for approval of a certificate of appropriateness for alteration, demolition or new construction affecting landmarks or historic districts.
(a) In passing upon an application for a certificate of appropriateness, the Historic District Review Board shall not consider changes to interior spaces, unless they are open to the public, or to architectural features that are not visible from a public street or alley.(b) The Review Board's decision shall be based upon the following principles:
[1] Properties which contribute to the character of this historic district shall be retained, with their historic features altered as little as possible;[2] Any alteration of existing properties shall be compatible with its historic character, as well as with the surrounding district; and[3] New construction shall be compatible with the district in which it is located.
(c) The Review Board shall consider the following factors:
[1] The general design, character and appropriateness to the property of the proposed alteration or new construction.[2] The scale of proposed alteration or new construction in relation to the property itself, surrounding properties, and the neighborhood.[3] Texture, materials, and color and their relation to similar features of other properties in the neighborhood.[4] Visual compatibility with surrounding properties, including proportion of the property's front facade, proportion and arrangement of windows and other openings within the facade, roof shape, and the rhythm of spacing of properties on streets, including setback.[5] The importance of historic, architectural or other features to the significance of the property.[6] Any other factors relating to historical or architectural considerations deemed pertinent to the objectives of this section.
(2) Criteria for approval of a certificate of appropriateness for signs. [Amended 7-19-2010 by L.L. No. 2-2010]
(a) Any exterior sign or any interior sign intended to be visible from a public street or alley which shall be erected or replaced after the adoption of this section shall require a certificate of appropriateness. The relettering, repainting, decorating or normal maintenance of any existing sign shall be permitted. However, any sign removed for any other purpose or removed for more than one year and not replaced within that one-year period shall be deemed permanently removed and may be replaced only after
proceeded to develop local water power resources which then expanded into a multitude of small scale economic opportunities and their own cottage industries. As white lead, gunpowder, and brick manufactures applied local supplies of cider vinegar, firewood, charcoal, potash, barrels and other materials to their processes competitive business practices built an economy significantly advanced from the agrarian and craftsman base of the period. The identification and interpretation of both the sites and the occupations of this early manufacturing activity shows how Saugerties' economic development heritage incubated and thrived.
7. Bluestone Quarry Sites
Quarrying is a prime historic example of local economic opportunity at work. A local and regional demand for stone for foundation walls, curbs and sidewalks expanded into the development of a multi-million dollar flagging stone industry that impacted Saugerties for a century. Quarry cuts and their accompanying rubble mounds are abundant. They form both an historic landscape and a unique rural character. The National Register site Opus 40 exemplifies both the historic and artistic significance of quarries. Unintentionally, quarrying has left the land as an attraction that inspires imaginative artistic works, still offers economic opportunities while at the same time is recognition of its historic antecedents.
8. The Railroad
The course of the railroad and its four depots in Saugerties is historically significant. When the route was developed in 1878 as a north extension of the Wallkill Valley Railroad linking Kingston to Athens, it displaced and diverted many of the Town's traditional roadways. Remnants of the overpasses and crossings built in 1882 for these roads are along the railroads path freezing in time this ancient road transportation corridor. It is possible to trace routes and observe structures of the Kings Highway and Catskill Road by the train rail bed that otherwise were totally lost in places where the carriage road bed has been adapted to the automobile.
9. The Thruway
From 1949 until 1953 the first length of all the NYS Thruway was constructed in Saugerties. On July 4th
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the owner has secured a certificate of appropriateness in accordance with this section. Relettering, repainting, or redecorating as the result of a change in ownership and subsequent change in business name shall be deemed permanent removal of the former business sign and may be replaced only after the owner has secured a certificate of appropriateness.(b) No internal illumination or backlit sign will be permitted. Only nonilluminated or externally illuminated signs shall be permitted.(c) No external neon signs shall be permitted. Interior neon window signs promoting alcoholic beverages shall be permitted in premises serving or selling alcohol. One neon sign is allowed for each major window pane. Exception: Each place of business is allowed to have one fixed, nonblinking "open" sign not to exceed two square feet. This sign may be lit only during business hours and may either show "open" or an icon representing the type of business. Illumination may be by neon, LED or similar light source. Note that the aggregate area of all signs cannot exceed the limit in Subsection E(2)(e).(d) Sandwich boards are allowed under Chapter 165, Streets and Sidewalks, § 165-10, Display of goods, wares or merchandise for advertising purposes. Sandwich boards may not exceed nine square feet per face and may not exceed four feet in height. Since they are not permanent, the sign area does not count toward allowable area for signage. The width and placement of the boards and displays must allow five feet of unobstructed pedestrian passage on the sidewalk. They must be removed from the sidewalk during the hours on which the business is closed. Overall design of the boards must be approved by the Historic Review Board. Inflatable or other nontraditional displays are not permitted.(e) Awnings are regulated under Subsection E(1)(c)[1], [2] and [3] and Subsection E(2)(b), (e) and (f) Chapter 165, § 165-8. All awnings are reviewed for compatibility with the requirements of the Historic District. Traditional cotton or synthetic canvass in stripes or solid colors is allowed. Awnings must be of traditional shape (not curved). Awnings may have lettering which will be counted as part of the allowed total area of signage. Lettering must not be internally illuminated. Awnings shall be seven feet from the lowest part to the ground.(f) All lettering styles and color schemes shall be appropriate to the character of the historic district.(g) The aggregate area in square feet of all signs, both interior and exterior, visible as part of the facade of any one wall shall not be greater than 11/2 times the length, in feet, of such wall.(h) Where a sign consists of lettering painted directly onto glass, the size of the sign shall be considered the area between the height and width of the lettering at its maximum height and width, i.e., that area which would be created by a "rectangular frame" around the lettering.(i) Examples of appropriate sign designs are included as Appendix A. Editor's Note: Appendix A, Appropriate Signs Already in Use in the Village, is included at the end of this chapter.
F. Certificate of appropriateness application procedure.(1) Prior to the commencement of any work requiring a certificate of appropriateness, the owner shall file an application for such a certificate with the Historic District Review Board. The application shall contain:
(a) Name, address and telephone number of applicant, plus existing blue sheets, if any.(b) Location and photographs of property.(c) Elevation drawings of proposed changes, if available.(d) Perspective drawings, including relationship to adjacent properties, if available.(e) Samples of color or materials to be used. (f) Where the proposal includes signs or lettering, a scale drawing showing the type of lettering to be used, all dimensions and colors, a description of materials to be used, method of illumination and a plan showing the sign's location on the property.(g) Any other information which the Review Board may
1951 the "Catskill Turnpike" was opened from Saugerties to Catskill, and on December 16th 1953 the roadway south to Kingston from Saugerties was opened. This is historically significant because along with the construction of the Kingston Rhinecliffe Bridge in 1954, the region attracted large corporate businesses and Saugerties started to become suburbanized. Thus the decade of the 1950's brought competition that caused the decline of the century and a quarter-old employment structure which was centered on manufacturers located in the village as well the village being the center of commerce.
10. Our River Frontage
The most enduring symbols of our river front heritage are the Lighthouse and the Long Dock. These are both defined by mile long land features extending into the Hudson. The Long Dock has historic connections and identities with river, railroad and land transportation. It was built in 1878 to decrease congestion at the village wharfs and support a shorter ferry route across the river to the east shore and the NY Central railroad. Its historic significance is as a model of cooperation between business interests and the government resulting in legislation which permitted the Town to add land for this purpose. It is thus an early experiment in private-public partnership in support of economic development policy.
11. Waterfront Commercial Sites
The wharfs and warehouses along the miles of river frontage are historic workplaces. In early years all roads led to the river and everything that was transported on them was transferred to boats or barges. The shoreline is historic because agricultural produce, brick, stone, ice and locally manufactured products reached markets by river transport. Stevedoring, crewing and wharf construction and maintenance were the work of specialized laborers who made their homes by the river. Many of these homes and the river workplaces are still extant and are historically significant.
12. The “Villages”
The villages and hamlets closest to the river are unique in their land division and development history. In the first decades of the 19th century streets and lots were laid out in Glasco, Saugerties Village (nee Ulster) and Malden (nee Bristol). These plans are historically noteworthy because residential lots were located away
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deem necessary in order to visualize the proposed work.(2) No building permit shall be issued for such proposed work until a certificate of appropriateness has first been issued by the Historic District Review Board. The Building Inspector shall refer any application for a building permit on property within the historic district or on landmark property to the Historic District Review Board within five days of receipt by the Building Inspector.(3) The Review Board shall approve, deny, or approve the permit with modification within 45 days from its receipt of the completed application. The Review Board may hold a public hearing on the application at which an opportunity will be provided for proponents and opponents of the application to present their views. The first such public hearing on an application must be held within 45 days from the date of receipt of the completed application, in which case the Review Board shall approve, deny, or approve the permit with modifications within five days of the completion of the public hearing or hearings.(4) All decisions of the Review Board shall be in writing. A copy shall be sent to the applicant by certified mail, return receipt requested, and a copy filed with the Village Clerk's office for public inspection. The address used for such notification shall be the address of the applicant as shown on his application for the building permit. The Review Board's decision shall state the reasons for denying or modifying any application.
G. Hardship criteria.(1) An applicant whose certificate of appropriateness has been denied may apply for relief from landmark or historic district designation on the grounds that designation is working a hardship upon him.(2) In order to prove the existence of hardship in order to permit demolition, the applicant shall establish that:
(a) The property is incapable of earning a reasonable return as a long-term capital investment, regardless of whether that return represents the most profitable return possible;(b) The property cannot be adapted, whether by the current owner or by a purchaser, for any other use which would result in a reasonable return; and(c) Diligent efforts to find a purchaser interested in acquiring the property and preserving it have failed.
(3) In order to prove the existence of hardship in order to permit alteration not in keeping with the architectural character of the district, the applicant shall establish that:
(a) The property is incapable of earning a reasonable return, regardless of whether that return represents the most profitable return possible;(b) The property cannot be adapted, in keeping with the architectural character of the district, whether by the current owner or by a purchaser, for any other use which would result in a reasonable return; and(c) Diligent efforts to find a purchaser interested in acquiring the property and preserving it have failed.
H. Hardship application procedure.(1) After receiving written notification from the Historic District Review Board of the denial of a certificate of appropriateness, an applicant may commence the hardship process. No building permit or demolition permit shall be issued unless the Review Board makes a finding that a hardship exists.(2) The Review Board may hold a public hearing on the hardship application at which an opportunity will be provided for proponents and opponents of the application to present their views.(3) The applicant shall consult in good faith with the Review Board, local preservation groups and interested parties in a diligent effort to seek an alternative that will result in preservation of the property.(4) All decisions of the Review Board shall be in writing. A copy shall be sent to the applicant by certified mail, return receipt requested, and a copy filed with the Village Clerk's office for public inspection. The Review Board's decision shall state the reasons for granting or denying the hardship application.
I. Enforcement. All work performed pursuant to a certificate of appropriateness issued under this section shall conform to any requirements included therein. It shall be the duty of the Building Inspector to inspect periodically any such work to assure compliance. In the event work is found that is not being performed
from valuable tillable land but on steep inclines that required substantial adjustments for building and street placement. These early urban planning methods like the structuring of the dwellings and design of the infrastructure for streets and utilities, demonstrate the extent to which the Saugerties community expended resources and made investments in order to create viable and valuable living environments.
13. Planned Communities
The concept of a model community has been a constant theme in local Saugerties history. Late nineteenth and early twentieth century artists colonies, bungalow colonies, and resorts brought the idea of sharing scenic views and common facilities to both land ownership and commercial development. This particular vision is bookended by the historic 1831 incorporation of the Village of Ulster (later renamed Saugerties) to manage the large population brought in by the mills on one end and the equally historic suburban housing developments of the 1960's created to manage the demands of another population explosion brought by improved transportation and large corporate employers. The designs and locations of planned community sites are documented in histories and in promotional material, e.g. Shagbark and Barclay Heights. They are historically significant for the growth they brought to the local economy and the social changes they gave rise to.
14. Planned Resource Development
Local environmental locations where there was development of the natural resources present are inseparable from the larger historical heritage. Water for drinking supply, power generation and navigation along with the clay, shale, bluestone and limestone resources of the earth, all played a significant part in local history. Planned, once active, and currently existing reservoirs, ponds, dams, raceways, canals, pits, quarries, jetties and dikes that can be viewed from public places are as much heritage viewsheds as any scenic vista and are significant for their interpretive views of the past.
15. Institutional Places
Saugerties has been a trading center since Henry Hudson's time. It is the nearest that the tide water of the Atlantic comes to the interior of the continent. Every
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in accordance with the certificate of appropriateness, or upon notification of such fact by the Historic District Review Board, the Building Inspector shall issue a stop-work order and all work shall immediately cease. No further work shall be undertaken on the project as long as a stop-work order is in effect.J. Maintenance and repair required.
(1) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the ordinary maintenance and repair of any exterior architectural feature of a landmark or property within an historic district which does not involve a change in design, material, color, or outward appearance.(2) No owner or person with an interest in real property designated as a landmark or included within an historic district shall permit the property to fall into a serious state of disrepair so as to result in the deterioration of any exterior architectural feature and which would, in the judgment of the Historic District Review Board, produce a detrimental effect upon the character of the historic district as a whole or the life and character of the property itself.(3) Examples of such deterioration include but are not limited to the following:
(a) Deterioration of exterior walls or other vertical supports. (b) Deterioration of roofs or other horizontal members.(c) Deterioration of exterior chimneys.(d) Deterioration or crumbling of exterior stucco or mortar.(e) Ineffective waterproofing of exterior walls, roofs, or foundations, including broken windows or doors.(f) Deterioration of any feature so as to create a hazardous condition which could lead to the claim that demolition is necessary for the public safety.
K. Violations.(1) Failure to comply with any of the provisions of this section shall be deemed a violation and the violator shall be subject to the penalties set forth in § 210-47.(2) Any person who demolishes, alters, constructs or permits a designated property to fall into a serious state of disrepair in violation of this section shall be required to restore the property and its site to its appearance prior to the violation. Any action to enforce this subsection shall be brought by the Village Attorney. This civil remedy shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any criminal prosecution and penalty under Subsection K(1) above.
L. Appeals.(1) Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Historic District Review Board relating to hardship or a certificate or appropriateness may, within 30 days of the date of receipt of the decision, as shown on the receipt for certified mail, file a written application with the Village Board of Trustees for review of the decision.(2) The Village Board may overrule the Review Board at a regularly scheduled meeting at which an opportunity to comment on the appeal is afforded to all interested parties or any member of the public. A majority of the Village Board must be in favor of overruling the Historic District Review Board in order to overrule the Historic District Review Board. In deciding whether or not to overrule the Historic District Review Board, the Village Board shall consider the same criteria used by the Historic District Review Board and the same record of the case provided to the Historic District Review Board. Any new issues, additional information or considerations must first be referred to the Historic District Review Board for its initial determination.
(References within code)§ 210-46. EnforcementC. Legal action by enforcement officer. If an unlawful condition or use is found not to have been properly remedied or made to comply with the provisions of this chapter by the expiration of the reasonable time period granted by the enforcement officer, then the enforcement officer is empowered to immediately institute any appropriate action, charge, or proceedings in the proper legal court for the prevention, cessation, or discontinuance of any condition, use, occupancy, or act, in, on, of, or around any building, structure, or tract of land and for the prosecution of any owner, occupant, or offender.D Legal action by taxpayers. If the enforcement officer fails or refuses to proceed with any action in accordance with Subsection C within a ten-day period following written request by any taxpayer so to proceed, then any three or more taxpayers of the Village of Saugerties residing or owning property in the district
occupant here, from native to European, has engaged in the exchange of one thing for another. The reason for the earliest paths and earliest structures was trade. This history is embedded in the consignment houses', factories', private banker's and government official's involvement in every aspect of the economic life of the community. Places of barter, exchange and record keeping are historic because they institutionalize every transaction we use to qualify what we regard as historically significant today.
16. Marketplaces
The public space that is most historic is the market area of the village of Saugerties. It grew from the continuous support of a hundred years of settled population centered on the mills. Populations around other work places also developed their own commercial centers that are historically significant. All of them began as places of temporary produce stands and carts that later evolved into small clusters of buildings with their merchandise and professional merchants. Market places with early post office addresses appear on the earliest maps, in gazetteer listings and in newspaper advertisements. Many larger residences in hamlet areas were built as early front-parlor markets. These are more historically significant as local landmarks then ordinary residences because they evolved into the commercial and social fabric that defined the village and hamlets.
17. Public Houses
The front parlors of roadside residences were also often used as taverns and were often the central gathering place of a locality. Histories of the late nineteenth century contain mention of dozens of earlier taverns along with the progression of their ownership. The Articles of Confederation were signed in the Post Tavern. The charter of the Town was signed at the home of Christian Fiero, also a tavern. Town meetings were held in the Mynderse Tavern. Taverns are thus historically significant because of their associations with events in the political organization of the community. Many of the stone houses in Saugerties that are along the main roads were once taverns.
18. Public Recreational Sites
The views of the mountains and the river encouraged shared appreciation of the outdoors from the earliest times. An economy based on visitors attracted to
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wherein such condition or use in violation of this chapter exists or in an adjacent district and who are jointly or severally aggrieved by such violation, may institute such appropriate action, charge, or proceeding in like manner as such enforcement officer is authorized§ 210-47. Penalties for offenses.[Amended 8-16-2010 by L.L. No. 4-2010] A violation of any provision of this chapter shall be a misdemeanor and shall be subject by a maximum fine of $1,000 or by imprisonment for not more than one year, or both. Each week of continued violation shall constitute a separate additional violation. If more than one provision is violated, each provision violated shall be considered a separate misdemeanor, each liable to maximum penalties as herein specified.§ 210-10. Official Zoning Map. The location and boundaries of the zoning districts established in § 210-9 are shown on the map entitled "Official Zoning Map of the Village of Saugerties." Said map together with everything shown thereon and all amendments thereto is hereby adopted by reference and accompanies and is declared to be an appurtenant part of this chapter. Said map indicating the latest amendments shall be kept up to date in the office of the Village Clerk for the use and benefit of the general public.
TOWN OF SAUGERTIES HISTORIC PRESERVATION ORDINANCE
Local Law #3, 2004, amended as Local Law #3, 2008, as amended, 2011Historic Preservation OrdinanceAN ORDINANCE related to the establishment of landmarks or historic districts in the Town of Saugerties; herein after, the "Town".Section 1. Legislative Intent.Pursuant to Article 5, Sec 96-a, and Article 5-K, New York General Municipal Law; Article 4, Parks, Recreation and Historical Preservation Law; and National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, it is hereby declared as a matter of public policy that the protection, enhancement and perpetuation of landmarks and historic districts are necessary to promote the cultural, economic and general welfare of the public. The Town has many significant and interrelated historic resources that constitute its heritage. These include architectural and cultural properties, archaeological sites, cemeteries as well as important land and maritime transportation routes and the remains of early industrial, commercial, agricultural, recreational and artistic sites. Inasmuch as the identity of a people is founded on its past, this article is intended to:
A. Protect, enhance and promote the landmarks and historic districts which present distinctive, informative and educational elements of the historic, architectural, archaeological and cultural heritage of the Town;B. Focus and stimulate attention on and foster civic pride in the historic accomplishments and resources in the Town;C. Protect and enhance the attractiveness of the Town to residents and visitors, thus supporting and providing stimulus to the local economy; andD. Ensure the harmonious, orderly and sensitive development of the Town.
Section 2. Commission Established.There is hereby established a commission to be known as the "Historic Preservation Commission of the Town of Saugerties," hereinafter referred to as the "Commission."Section 3. Membership; Terms of Office; Officers; Meetings; Quorum.
A. The Commission shall consist of five members who shall be appointed by the Town Board. Four (4) of the five (5) members shall be residents of the Town of Saugerties. One (1) of the five (5) members of the Commission may be a non-resident of the Town. Persons who have demonstrated significant interest in and commitment to the field of historic preservation, evidenced by involvement in a local historic preservation group, employment or volunteer activity in the field of historic preservation, or other serious interest in the field, shall be eligible for appointment as members of the Commission. The Town Historian shall be an ex officio member of the Commission.B. Commission members shall serve for a term of four years, with the exception of the initial term of one of the members which shall be one year, one which shall be two years, one which shall be three years, and two which shall be for four years. C. A Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall be elected by and from among the members of the Commission.
overlooks, hiking trails and related outdoor activities is embedded in local history. Recreational rowing clubs, sport fields, viewing towers, horse racing rinks, scenic paths, and swimming beaches have been supported as membership or commercial enterprises for both residents and visitors since the earliest days of industrial development. Residents of large estates, the common citizen, and the vacationer equally enjoyed horseback riding and early automobile and bicycle touring on the many public roads into the mountains. Parks for sports activities at these historic places, some now publicly supported, carry on traditions introduced over a century and a half ago. The locations of all these outdoor activities are historically significant to our heritage environment.
19. Public Gathering Places
Churches, lodges, schools, theaters, and even undeveloped land are significant as historic gathering places. For example, the large level bedrock outcrops in 1715 was the site of the Kaatsbaan's first Sabbath and a large farm field of the Winston Farm in 1994 became the site for the 25th anniversary celebration of the Woodstock Festival. Because of the relationship of the founding Dutch population to the Dutch Reformed Church, the part religious persecution played in the large Palatine immigration, and the way the cosmopolitan temperament of their skilled workers was encouraged by the first industrialists, many historically significant sites relate to worship. At one such site (Trinity Church) can be found the world renowned William Morris stained glass window. All of this is historically significant locally, regionally and even internationally.
20. Burial Grounds
Ancient burial grounds associated with a single family, a settlement, or a local church are found throughout Saugerties. Some are on roads, but many are lost in the woods on private land, only accessible by now abandoned pathways. Finding out about these "lost" burial sites occurs in strange ways. For instance, the one for the Wynkoop family is only known because of a listing by Congress as the last resting place of an officer in the Revolutionary War. All cemeteries and burial grounds are protected by law and it becomes the responsibility of the community to make sure their
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D. The Commission shall meet at least every two months but meetings may be held at any time on the written request of any two of the Commission Members or on the call of the Chairperson or the Supervisor.E. A quorum for the transaction of business shall consist of three of the Commission's members, but not less than a majority of the full authorized membership may render a decision regarding landmark status or grant or deny a Certificate of Appropriateness.
Section 4. Powers and Duties.The powers and duties of the Commission shall include:
A. Adoption of criteria for the identification of significant historic architectural, archaeological and cultural landmarks and for the delineation of historic districts;B. Conduct surveys of significant historical, architectural, archeological and cultural landmarks and historic districts within the Town;C. Designation of individual landmarks and creation of historic districts; such designation to be subject to disapproval supported by findings by the Town Board within 45 days of enactment of the designation and filed as approved if no action is taken in this time.D. Approval or disapproval of applications for Certificates of Appropriateness pursuant to this ordinance.E. Increasing public awareness of the Town's historic, cultural and architectural preservation by developing, publishing and distributing educational and promotional information and participating in public education programs;F. Promulgation of rules and regulations as necessary for the conduct of its business;G. Making recommendations to Town Board concerning the use of state, federal or private funds to provide information on and promote the preservation of landmarks and historic districts with the Town; H. Making recommendations to the Town Board regarding appropriate zoning laws protecting historic, architectural, archaeological and cultural landmarks and to the Planning Board regarding applications for site plan review or subdivisions of real property containing landmarks or within a historic district; I. Making of recommendations to the Town Board concerning acceptance of donations or the acquisition of facade easements or other interests in real property as necessary to carry out the purposes of this ordinance; J. Recommending acquisition of a landmark property by the Town Board where its preservation is essential to the purposes of this ordinance and where private preservation is not feasible;K. Employment, with Town Board approval, of staff and professional consultants as necessary to carry out the duties of the Commission;
Section 5. Designation of Landmarks and Historic Districts.A. The Commission may propose an individual property for designation as a landmark if it:
(1) Possesses special character or historic or aesthetic interest or value as part of the cultural, political, economic or social history of the locality, region, state or nation; and/or2) Is identified with historic personages; and/or3) Embodies the distinguishing characteristics of an architectural style; and/or(4) Is the work of a designer whose work has significantly influenced an age; and/or(5) Because of a unique location or singular physical characteristic, represents an established and familiar visual feature of the neighborhood; and/or(6) Is listed on the State and/or National Registers of Historic Places, or which is the subject of a pending application for listing.
B. The Commission may designate a group of properties as an historic district if it:
(1) contains properties which meet one or more of the criteria for designation as an individual landmark; and,(2) by reason of possessing such qualities, constitutes a cohesive historic area of the Town.
The boundaries of each historic district designated henceforth shall be specified in detail and shall be filed in the Town Clerk's office for public inspection.C. Requests for designation of an individual landmark or historic district may be initiated by any person or organization on forms provided by the Town Clerk.
markers and locations are preserved. A large attraction of an historic place like Saugerties is the record it preserves of its past. Genealogical visits by current generations of families that started out in Saugerties or the Hudson Valley is a common reason for a "tourists" visit.
***
In closing, it is important to keep in mind that the purpose of landmark designation in Saugerties is to honor and preserve the physical representatives of these categories. These examples are the standard of reference the Commission uses when qualifying the historic significance of buildings, remains of structures and sites being reviewed for landmark status.
Access to new, more powerful sources of information continues to place an obligation on the Commission under 4A of the Powers and Duties of the Ordinance. The examples given here attend to the currency of 4A, which is subject to periodic review and change.
The second of the Powers and Duties in the Historic Preservation Ordinance is:4B) Conduct surveys of significant historical, architectural, archaeological and cultural landmarks and historic districts within the Town.
The survey presently used by the Commission was completed March, 2005 under a Preserve New York Grant Program that was initiated in 2003 before the Historic Preservation Ordinance and the formation of the Commission. A more comprehensive survey applying the above examples to identify landmarks and districts would provide a more representative inventory for supporting the activities of the Commission under the remaining Powers and Duties in section 4 of the Ordinance.
FAQs about the Town Ordinance***
Why does Saugerties have an Historic Preservation
Ordinance?
NYS Municipal Law requires Towns to have a Master Plan to
guide the application of their Zoning Ordinance. Saugerties
enacted a Comprehensive Plan for this purpose on December 22,
1999. One main feature of the Plan, Goal #4, focused on
preservation of the unique historic character of the Town. The
history of the town was singled out as a quality-of-life asset to be
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D. Notice of a proposed designation shall be sent by certified mail with return receipt requested to the owner(s) of the property or properties proposed for designation appearing on the most recent real property tax rolls of the Town. This notice shall describe the property proposed and announce a public hearing by the Commission to consider the designation. Timely notice of this public hearing shall be published in the official newspaper of the Town. The Commission shall make every effort to hold the public hearing within 12 days after the date this notice is published. Simultaneously with the mailing of such notice to the owner(s), the Commission shall cause a copy of the same to be delivered to the Building Inspector and to the Assessor for their respective review and comment. Once the Commission has issued notice of a proposed designation, the Building Inspector shall issue no building or demolition permits nor shall any material change be made to the appearance of the property until the Commission has made its decision. Notice of this restriction shall be worded in these transmittals to the Building Inspector and Assessor.E. The Commission shall hold its duly advertised public hearing on the date set forth in the notice prior to designation of any landmark. Testimony or documentary evidence at the hearing by the Commission, owner(s) and any interested parties shall become part of a record regarding the archaeological, historic, architectural or cultural importance of the proposed landmark or historic district. The Commission shall make a decision in writing within 62 days of closing of the public hearing and send by certified mail with return receipt requested a copy of its decision to the owner(s) of the property or properties and also deliver copies to be filed with the Town Clerk, with the Building Inspector and with the Town Assessor. The Commission's decision shall state the reasons for granting, modifying or denying a landmark designation.F. The Commission shall prepare and forward to the Ulster County Clerk for recording a notice of each property designated as a landmark or as part of an historic district.
Section 6. Designation of Historic and Scenic Transportation Routes.Nothing in this ordinance shall preclude the Commission's designation of roads and/or maritime transportation features of the Town which meet the criteria set forth in Section 5. Once designated, the Town Board shall solicit the Commission's advice on their proper care, landscaping and construction, which advice shall be incorporated into standards used by the Highway Department. The Commission may be delegated to act as liaison with the State, County and Federal departments during construction and maintenance of maritime routes and Town designated historic and scenic roads.Any proposed changes, other than maintenance, to privately-owned designated historic roads shall first be submitted to the commission for a Certificate of Appropriateness. The purpose of such designation is to maintain continuity with adjoining properties, alignment, unimpeded width of a minimum of 12 feet and existing surface materials.Section 7. Certificate of Appropriateness
A. No person shall carry out any exterior alteration, restoration, reconstruction, demolition, new construction or moving of a building designated as a landmark or any property within a historic district, nor shall any person make any material change in the appearance of such a property, its light fixtures, signs, sidewalks, fences, steps, paving, major landscape feature or design or other exterior elements, including exterior lighting, which affect the appearance and cohesiveness of either the landmark or of the historic district, without first obtaining a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Commission.B. The Town Building Inspector shall be responsible for administering and maintaining records of the applications for a Certificate of Appropriateness, whether or not they are accompanied by an application for a building permit. The Building Inspector shall have the same enforcement capability with respect to a Certificate of Appropriateness that the Inspector exercises with respect to a building permit.C. No fees shall be collected for a Certificate of Appropriateness application.D. Before acting on any application for a variance, special use permit, site plan, building permit, demolition permit, sign permit or subdivision the Building Inspector shall first consult a current list of all properties designated as individual
considered when assessing any future development.
Saugerties has one of the fullest ranges of history in all of New
York State. It has been the site of events ranging as far back as the
Discovery by Henry Hudson to the British fleet in the
Revolutionary War; from early manufacturing in the Industrial
Revolution to the Woodstock Festival's 25th Anniversary in the
late 20th century.
People seek to live and work in interesting places. The
Comprehensive Plan recognized that preservation of the tangible
representatives of Saugerties' past is important for attracting and
retaining both private and public investment in the town.
Goal #4.7 of the Comprehensive Plan was a recommendation that
Saugerties pursue the benefit of becoming a Certified Local
Government. This required the Town to have a survey of its
historic assets, a preservation law and a qualified commission to
designate and oversee preservation of the historic assets of the
Town of Saugerties.
In 2003 an Historic Preservation Ordinance was drafted to codify
these concepts of the Comprehensive Plan into law. This ordinance
was made a local law in 2004. This law charges a Commission
with the responsibility of evaluating the town's historic assets and
designating official landmark properties and landmark districts of
the Town.
A 2004-2005 survey funded by the Preservation League of the
State of New York documented over 180 properties eligible for
landmark status under State and National Register criteria in the
Town of Saugerties, 60 of which were stone houses. Nearly 100%
of the assets recorded in this survey were maintained by deeply
caring and responsible owners in conditions sensitive to their
historical importance to the town.
What does the Historic Preservation Commission do?
The intent of the Historic Preservation Ordinance is twofold; to
provide an educational and regulatory resource for the preservation
of historic properties in Saugerties and to provide professional
support and advice as to the proper preservation of properties to
the owners of designated landmarks. The Commission serves this
function by designating landmarks during informational public
hearings and by providing an ongoing oversight over the
preservation of designated properties through issuing Certificates
of Appropriateness for any proposed work that may be necessary.
It also serves as a resource to owners of undesignated historic
properties for preservation advice and related information.
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65Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
landmarks or as contained within historic districts to determine the requesting property's status. Requests affecting a landmarked property or any property within a historic district under this ordinance or a structure or premises listed in the National Register of Historic Places shall be referred promptly by the Building Inspector to the Commission for its recommendations in order to facilitate the review process and for a Certificate of Appropriateness, if necessary.
Section 8. Criteria for Approval of Certificate of Appropriateness.
A. This ordinance does not regulate or apply to interior spaces. A Certificate of Appropriateness is not required for interior alterations. At the request of an owner of property which has been designated as a landmark or which is located in an historic district, the Commission may consult and advise on changes to interior spaces if they are open to the public on a regular basis.B. The Commission's decisions on all applications for Certificates of Appropriateness for building exteriors shall be based upon the following principles:
(1) Historic properties shall be retained with their historic features altered as little as possible.(2) Any alteration of existing property shall be compatible with its historic character, and with the historic character of surrounding properties, if any. Changes that may have taken place in the course of time are evidence of the history and development of a building, structure or site and its environment. These changes may have acquired significance in their own right, and this significance shall be recognized and respected. Contemporary design for alterations and additions to existing properties shall not be discouraged when such alterations and additions do not destroy significant historical, architectural or cultural material and such design is compatible with the size, scale, color, material and character of the property, neighborhood or environment.(3) New construction shall be compatible with the historic character of its surroundings.
C. In determining compatibility, the Commission shall consider the following factors:
(1) The general design, character and appropriateness to the property of the proposed alteration or new construction;(2) The scale of proposed alteration or new construction in relation to the property itself, surrounding properties, and the neighborhood;(3) Texture, materials, form, massing, size, rhythm, spacing, structural elements, proportion, illumination and color and their relation to similar features of other properties in the neighborhood;(4) Visual compatibility with surrounding properties, including proportion of the property's front facade, proportion and arrangement of windows and other openings within the facade, roof shape, and the rhythm of spacing of properties on the streets, including setbacks, yards and landscaping; and(5) The importance of historic, architectural or other features to the significance of the property.
Section 9. Application Procedure for Certificate of Appropriateness.
A. Prior to the commencement of any work requiring a Certificate of Appropriateness, the owner shall file an application for such certificate with the Building Inspector. The application shall state, where appropriate:
(1) Name, address and telephone number of the applicant;(2) Location and photographs of property;(3) Detailed description of proposed changes;(4) Perspective and elevation drawings, including relationship to adjacent properties;(5) Samples of color and/or materials to be used;(6) Where the proposal includes signs or lettering, a scale drawing showing the type of lettering to be used, all dimensions and colors, a description of materials to be used, method of illumination and a plan showing the sign's location on the property; or(7) Any other information which the Commission may deem necessary in order to visualize the proposed work.
B. No building permit, demolition permit or other required permit shall be issued by the Building Inspector for such
Since there are relatively few historic houses in the town that are
in need of designation by the Commission in order to save them,
the Commission's role is more to see that the integrity of the well
maintained resources of the Town are not undermined by
unsympathetic development in their respective historic settings.
Stone houses and other early examples of architecture from past
centuries in Saugerties are generally now purchased specifically to
be either restored or preserved in their restored state. Such
properties have been good investments for their owners because
they retain their values relatively insulated from the normal
fluctuations of the real estate market. They often also command a
premium when sold.
Many of the historic assets of the town are farm-oriented. In the
past decades this farm context was often lost when there was
development of the farmland for modern housing, changing the
historic setting and the overall historic fabric of the town. It is
therefore also a responsibility of the Commission and the intent of
the ordinance to provide the oversight that will enable both
development and historic landmark to coexist in a setting sensitive
to the needs of both. The Commission works with the planning
board when a designated property or lands that relate to it are being
developed in order to guarantee that the style and orientation of the
housing is sensitive to the retention of the historic setting.
How does a property become a landmark?
Designation of a property as a landmark of the Town is both an
honor and a responsibility. Many owners who have invested much
time and expense in a restoration would like this effort to be
officially recognized through an historic designation. There is a
form available from the Town Clerk that is used to begin this
process.
In some cases a request will be made for the Commission to
designate an historic property that is in disrepair or is threatened in
some other way. In those cases, the Historic Preservation
Ordinance can be applied to prevent its loss to the Town and any
citizen of Saugerties can submit the request form. The requestor
need not own the property and the Commission need not have
permission of the property owner to proceed with hearings on a
request or to make a designation official.
A third way that a property may proceed toward designation is for
the Commission to select it from the 2004-2005 survey of the
historic buildings of the Town. The Commission does this more to
officially recognize the Town's inventory of historic structures then
to show any need for oversight.
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proposed work on a landmark property or a property within an historic district until a Certificate or Appropriateness has first been issued by the Commission. The Certificate of Appropriateness required by this article shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any permits the Town may require or any other laws or regulations. The Building Inspector shall refer such permit application for a landmark property or a property within an historic district to the Commission within 10 working days of receipt or by such other deadline established by the Commission.C. The Commission shall approve, approve with modifications, or deny a Certificate of Appropriateness on such permit within 62 days from receipt of the complete application. During this time the applicant or applicant's representative may meet with the Commission to consider alternative designs if needed, advice on technologies, available restoration skills and possible financial assistance. The Commission may also hold a public hearing on the application at which an opportunity will be provided for proponents and opponents of the application to present their views.D. All decisions of the Commission shall be in writing. A copy shall be sent to the applicant by certified mail, return receipt requested, and also a copy shall be filed with the Town Clerk and the Town Building Inspector for public inspection. The address used for such notification shall be the address of the applicant as shown on the application for the building permit. The Commission's decision shall state the reasons for granting, modifying or denying any application.E. Certificates of Appropriateness shall be valid for 12 months after which time the owner must reapply if the work on the certificate has not commenced.
Section 10. Compliance with State Environmental Quality Review Act.The Historic Preservation Commission shall comply with the provisions of the State Environmental Quality Review Act under Article 8 of the Environmental Conservation Law and its implementing regulations. Section 11. Enforcement.All work performed pursuant to a Certificate or Appropriateness issued under this ordinance shall conform to any requirements included therein. It shall be the duty of the Building Inspector to inspect any such work to assure compliance. In the event work is found that is not being performed in accordance with the Certificate of Appropriateness, or upon notification of such fact by the Commission, the Building Inspector shall issue a Stop-Work Order and all work shall immediately cease. No further work shall be undertaken on the project as long as a Stop-Work Order is in effect. Any non-conforming work shall be removed unless approved by the Commission.Section 12. Maintenance and Repair Required.
A. Nothing in this ordinance shall be construed to prevent the ordinary maintenance and repair of any exterior architectural feature of a landmark, a property under consideration for landmark designation, or a property within an historic district which does not involve a change in design, material, color or outward appearance.B. No owner or occupant of real property designated as a landmark or included within a historic district shall permit the property to fall into a serious state of disrepair so as to result in the deterioration of any exterior architectural feature which would, in the judgment of the Commission, produce a detrimental effect upon the character of a landmark or a historic district as a whole or the life and character of the property itself. Examples of such deterioration include:
(1) Deterioration of exterior wall or other vertical supports.(2) Deterioration of roofs or other horizontal members.(3) Deterioration of exterior chimneys.(4) Deterioration or crumbling of exterior stucco or mortar.(5) Ineffective waterproofing of exterior walls, roofs or foundations, including broken windows or doors.(6) Deterioration of any feature so as to create a hazardous condition that could lead to the claim that demolition is necessary for the public safety.
C. The Commission shall conduct periodic surveys of buildings designated as landmarks to determine that they are not in a state of disrepair and that no alterations have been made in the features described in preceding sections of this article without the owner having first obtained a Certification
What gives this Ordinance the right to designate without
the property owner's permission?
The purpose of the Saugerties Historic Preservation Ordinance is
to maintain the historic character of the town. The Commission is
mandated by the ordinance to act to designate when the town is
threatened with the loss of an important historic asset. This may
not always be in the best interest of the property owner. Prior to the
2004-2005 survey, three of the town's important stone houses
appearing in the 1976 DAR publication, "Stone Houses of
Saugerties", disappeared without any need for even a demolition
permit. Their owners clearly felt that the location and setting of the
older structure was more suited to the new home that replaced it. It
is the spirit (and requirement) of the Historic Preservation
Ordinance of the Town of Saugerties to prevent this from ever
happening again.
The main difference between local landmark laws and the laws that
support the State and National Registers of Historic Places is this
legal right to designate an historic asset without the permission of
the current property holder. This is because it directly benefits the
needs of a local population; it is a "home rule" law. Despite this
difference the designation of a local landmark is NOT a "taking" of
property. The only change in the owner's private property status is
the Commission's oversight of any change made to the
characteristics that have been recognized as historic during the
designation process.
A local Historic Preservation Ordinance is just like any other local
maintenance law. The building department has laws to enforce the
maintaining of a property for safety. The police department has
laws to maintain order. Saugerties' Historic Preservation law is to
preserve (maintain) the historic assets of the town.
As enacted and as referenced in its preamble, the purpose and
powers of the Historic Preservation Ordinance of the Town of
Saugerties are the same as those of hundreds of other local
preservation ordinances around the United States whose
designations and oversights of historic properties have withstood
legal challenges right up to the Supreme Court.
Is age the only thing that qualifies a property for a
historic designation?
There are many centuries-old properties in Saugerties. Not all can
make the cut to qualify for designation under the criteria of the
Historic Preservation Ordinance. Saugerties has a very
comprehensive record of its history. It is fortunate to have been a
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67Honoring The Past and Looking to the Future: Guidelines for Identification and Preservation in Saugerties, New York
of Appropriateness. Assistance of the Building Inspector may be requested as required in such surveys.
Section 13. Hardship Criteria for Demolition.An applicant whose Certificate of Appropriateness for a proposed demolition has been denied may apply for relief on the ground of hardship. In order to prove hardship, the applicant shall establish that:
A. the property is incapable of earning a reasonable return, regardless of whether that return represents the most profitable return possible;B. the property cannot be adapted for any other use, whether by the current owner or by a purchaser, which would result in a reasonable return; andC. efforts to find a purchaser interested in acquiring the property and preserving it have failed.
Section 14. Hardship Criteria for Alteration.An applicant whose Certificate of Appropriateness for a proposed alteration has been denied may apply for relief on the ground of hardship. In order to prove existence of hardship, the applicant shall establish that the property is incapable of earning a reasonable return, regardless of whether that return represents the most profitable return possible.Section 15. Hardship Application Procedure.
A. After receiving written notification from the Commission for the denial of a Certificate of Appropriateness, an applicant may commence the hardship process. No building permit or demolition permit shall be issued unless the Commission makes a finding that a hardship exists.B. The Commission may hold a public hearing on the hardship application at which an opportunity will be provided for proponents of the application to present their views.C. The applicant shall consult in good faith with the Commission, local preservation groups and interested parties in a diligent effort to seek an alternative that will result in preservation of the property.D. All decisions of the Commission shall be in writing. A copy shall be sent to the applicant by certified mail and a copy filed with the Town Clerk's Office for public inspection. The Commission's decision shall state the reasons for granting or denying the hardship application. If the application is granted, the Commission shall approve only such work as is necessary to alleviate the hardship.
Section 16. Appeals.Any person aggrieved by a decision of the Historic Preservation Commission related to hardship or a Certificate of Appropriateness may, within 15 days of the decision, file a written application to the Town Board for review of the decision. Reviews shall be conducted based on the same record that was before the Commission and using the same criteria.Section 17. Penalties for Offenses.
A. Failure to comply with any of the provisions of this article shall be deemed a violation, and the violator shall be liable for a fine of not less than $50 nor more than $250 for each day the violation exists.B. Any person who constructs, alters, demolishes or permits a property designated as a landmark to fall into a serious state of disrepair in violation of this article shall be required to restore the property and its site to its appearance prior to the violation. Any action to enforce this article shall be brought by the Town Attorney, who shall be entitled to recover, in addition to the fine, all costs and expenses incurred by the Town in pursuing compliance with this article.C. This civil remedy shall be in addition to and not in lieu of any criminal prosecution and penalty.
Section 18. SeparabilityShould any section, paragraph, division, phrase or provision of this ordinance be judged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unconstitutional, such judgement shall not affect the validity of this ordinance as a whole, or any part or provision hereof other than the part so adjudged as invalid or unconstitutional.ADDENDUM TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION ORDINANCETOWN OF SAUGERTIESGLOSSARY OF TERMSALTERATION - Any act or process that changes one or more exterior or designated interior features of a landmark. ARCHITECTURALLY SIGNIFICANT STRUCTURE - An architecturally significant structure is one which represents a rare or early example of a design that has become a widely known style associated with a particular architectural period. CONSTRUCTION - Any act of erecting an addition to an existing
part of the Corporation of Kingston since 1687 and to have had the
benefit of the first 125 years of its history documented in that
body's records. In addition, the 19th century record is fully
available in the chronicles of the many industries that had their
beginnings here. Thus, a property must have played a significant
part in this record to be a landmark more relevant to the history of
the Town than any other available candidate of comparable age.
In the Historic Preservation Ordinance there are five criteria that
qualify a property to be a landmark and only one has to be met for
a designation. It must be proven conclusively that the property
meets one or more of the criteria. In the criteria the architecture,
local prominence, historic owner or State/National Register status
are the principal factors under consideration.
The Commission, by law, is made up of five volunteers, each
having demonstrated knowledge of local history, architecture, and
archaeology. In addition, the Commission has access to many
professionals in the field of preservation that it may call to testify
during the designation hearing for a property. This public hearing
also draws on the comments of the neighbors and other citizens of
the town. Only after a complete record of the evidence is collected
does the Commission make its decision to designate.
Why should a designated property be taxed differently
from any other?
The taxes on a landmark property are the same as any other
property comparable in living area and lot size.
Designated landmarks are, however, given tax relief on
improvements made to them that would typically raise their
assessed value. For any improvement for which they must come
before the Commission for a Certificate of Appropriateness there is
a 10-year phase-in of the full taxes on the related re-assessed value.
This is most important in regard to properties in need of major
restoration efforts. The investment can be substantial. This 10-year
break is a small way that the law allows the Town to thank the
owner for providing this enormous community service.
The restoration and preservation of designated historic properties
adds social and economic benefits to the community. It is rare that
the owner of any property in Saugerties is not aware of its
relationship to an historic property in its neighborhood. Every
hamlet and side road of Saugerties sports an emblem of an earlier
era that a newer dwelling is proud to share its identity with. This
proximity not only improves the value of their home but also helps
to provide a sense of place and community that can only be
possible when living in an historic setting.
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structure or the erection of a new principal or accessory structure on a lot or property. CERTIFICATE OF APPROPRIATENESS - A permit issued by the Saugerties Commission for Historic Preservation allowing exterior alteration, restoration, reconstruction, demolition, new construction or moving of a building designated as a landmark or any property within a historic district. A certificate of appropriateness is required before any material change is made in the appearance of a landmark property or a property within a historic district. FACADE EASEMENT - A type of preservation easement derived from the charitable donation to an organization that is exempt from tax under Internal Revenue Code Section 501 (c) (3). A legal agreement designed to protect a significant historic archaeological or cultural resource in which the historic property owner is assured that the buildings facade (front) will be maintained, protected and preserved forever. FORM - The shape and structure of a building as distinguished from the material of which it is composed. HISTORIC DISTRICT - Any area containing a significant concentration of structures, landscape features, sites or objects having historic, architectural, archaeological, cultural or aesthetic significance which are contextually united.LANDMARK - A designation which may include any structure, landscape feature, site or area having historic, architectural, archaeological, cultural or aesthetic significance.MASSING - The architectural relationship between the various masses or volumes of a building, including proportion, profile, volume relationship and contour.REPAIR - Replacement in kind or refurbishment of materials on a structure. RHYTHM - The regular recurrence of similar features in a building.SPACING - The distance between any two objects in a usually regularly arranged series.
How does an owner of a designated property know what
can and can't be done to it?
The preservation ordinance relates only to exterior architectural or
landscape aspects of a designated property that are visible from
public spaces and interior spaces of a designated property that are
open to the public. Any work requiring a building permit must, in
the case of a designated property, also have a Certificate of
Appropriateness (C of A) issued from the Commission before the
building permit can be issued. The Commission is required to do a
review of the work for the requested C of A at the next regular
meeting after the request is submitted. The building inspector will
supply the C of A forms to any applicant requesting a building
permit on a designated property. It is strongly recommended that
the applicant contact the Commission chair before submitting the
forms to discuss the project being planned. This will expedite the
review process.
There are guidelines that the Commission uses when dealing with
what is appropriate and what is not. These are applied to
architectural elements such as the roof and windows.
They also cover landscape elements such as stone walls
and tree lines that do not require a building permit to
change. Because of the variety of historic aspects of
particular properties, the Commission is responsible for
specifically enumerating those of an individual
property in its designation documentation. It is the
responsibility of the owner to maintain these designated
features and contact the Commission with any request
for change. The law gives the Commission the power to
have changes reversed if done without a C of A.
Must the property owner follow the guidelines
of the Commission?
A full seven pages of the ten page Historic Preservation
Ordinance addresses the rights of the property owner.
Should the guidelines of the Commission present a
hardship to the owner the law allows the property
owner to seek an appeal from the Town Board.
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The Town and Village clerks offer their respective applications for a Certificate of Appropriateness for properties designated local landmarks or that are within an historic district.